IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2019 - 58

Established Infrastructure and
SiC-Related Activities
Multiple South Korean companies are
engaged in SiC technology development.
POSCO, one of the world's top-five steel-
producing companies, performed SiC
single-crystal growth research for more
than a decade. As a WPM program par-
ticipant, POSCO established high-quality
100-mm and 150-mm SiC-substrate
technology that is close to commer-
cialization. SKC, another WPM pro-
g r a m participant, is a 100-mm SiC
substrate supplier. An SK Corporation
company, SKC, is on its way to commer-
cializing 150-mm SiC wafers. As noted
previously, LG Innotek, a subsidiary of
LG Electronics, has developed 150-mm
SiC epitaxial technology. As a consumer
electronics giant, LG Electronics not
only is potentially a large consumer of
SiC power semiconductors but also is
likely engaged in internal development.
However, no official announcement
has been made to that effect.
Similarly, Hyundai Motor Company,
one of the world's top-five manufactur-
ers of vehicles, has published its SiC
power electronics work and developed
intellectual property (IP), as shown in
Figure 2. Two technical papers were

140

Number of Granted Patents

Patent Rights Reinforcement

120

presented at the 2015 Electric Vehicle
Symposium that discussed a trench-
gate SiC MOSFET with an accumu-
lation-channel structure and an
advanced junction barrier Schottky
diode [7], [8]. Given the large automo-
tive application volumes, Hyundai is
likely continuing to execute on inter-
nal SiC power semiconductor R&D
programs for electric vehicle inverters.
In terms of SiC power semiconduc-
tor manufacturing, Yes Powertechnix
(YPT) is in production of 600-1,700-V
SiC Schottky diodes and 1,200-1,700-V
SiC MOSFETs. The company is dedi-
cated solely to SiC power device man-
ufacturing, and it operates a class-10
foundry processing 100-mm SiC
wafers. Additionally, YPT provides SiC
foundry services, including design and
custom process development. This is
a key offering, as it enables fabless
companies to customize and manufac-
ture their SiC products.
Samsung, the world's number one-
ranked semiconductor company in
2018, announced plans in April 2019 to
invest US$116 billion (KRW140.534 tril-
lion) over the next 12 years to become
the world's number one manufacturer
of nonmemory chips [3]. Although Sam-

sung is the world's largest memory
device manufacturer, it does not rank
within the top 10 of nonmemory semi-
conductor companies. Nevertheless, it
is unclear whether the massive invest-
ment plans include development of
power semiconductors. Samsung can
also rapidly become a major player in
gallium-nitride (GaN) power devices, as
GaN-based blue LED technology is one
of its large business activities.
Dongbu (DB) HiTeK is a South Kore-
an open-foundry semiconductor compa-
ny that regularly ranks among the
world's top-ten pure-play foundries in
terms of sales revenues. It operates two
fabrication facilities, strategically cen-
tered in South Korea's vibrant semicon-
ductor infrastructure, with a total capac-
ity of approximately 120,000 wafers per
month. Although DB HiTek's foundry
services presently encompass analog,
logic, and specialized Si CMOS process-
ing, the company is uniquely positioned
to serve the rapidly growing SiC fabless
market in a cost-competitive way by
leveraging its large manufacturing
capacity to produce SiC devices at the
economy scale of Si. This model entails
making a modest SiC-specific equip-
ment investment and fabricating Si and

The more the patent assignee combines a high number
Bubble Size Represents the
of granted patents with a high number of pending
Number of Patent Families
patent applications, the greater its
Selected for the Study
IP leadership is.

100
80

hip

ers

d
Lea

40
20
0

25
35
45
Number of Patent-Pending Applications

Patenting Activity

FIG 2 The IP leadership of trench SiC MOSFET patent assignees includes Hyundai Motor Company. (Source: Power SiC: MOSFETs,
SBDs, and Modules 2019-Patent Landscape Analysis, 2019, Knowmade; used with permission.)

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