After several years of development, Bosch is now starting the volume production of power semiconductors made of silicon carbide (SiC), to supply automotive manufacturers worldwide. Harald Kroeger, a board member of Robert Bosch GmbH, said: “The future for silicon carbide semiconductors is bright. We want to become a global leader in the production of SiC chips for electromobility.”

Two years ago, Bosch — a supplier of technology and services — announced that it would push ahead with the development of SiC chips and enter production. This saw the company develop its own highly complex manufacturing processes, which it has been using to produce the special semiconductors since the beginning of 2021 — initially as samples for customer validation.

Bosch says that in the future, the company intends to expand its production capacity for SiC power semiconductors to ‘a unit volume running into the hundreds of millions’. Moreover, Bosch has already started expanding the clean-room space at its Reutlingen plant and is currently working on the second generation of SiC chips, which will be even more efficient and should be ready for volume production as of 2022.

The company is receiving support for the development of SiC manufacturing processes from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as part of the ‘Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) Microelectronics’ programme.

Peter Altmaier, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, added: “For several years now, we have been providing support to help establish semiconductor production in Germany. Bosch’s highly innovative semiconductor production strengthens the microelectronics ecosystem in Europe and is a further step toward greater independence in this key field of digitalisation.”