Vendor View: 2021 A Year of Growth and Expansion for SiC-Producer GTAT
150mm diameter CrystX silicon carbide boule produced in volume and at extremely high-quality levels.
2021 is a big year for GTAT and its CrystX® silicon carbide (SiC) crystal. First, our quality levels continue to rise dramatically, quarter over quarter. Specifically, Etch Pit Density (EPD) and Basal Plane Dislocations (BPD) are critical quality metrics for SiC. We’ve made significant progress driving down BPD’s to less than 1,000 per cm2 and are set to reduce this by another 50% in the near term. We focus on continuous improvement, investing in R&D to reduce defects and then ‘locking down’ the process while repeating the cycle. Our inherently stable production metrics enable CrystX® silicon carbide to be made to this high-quality standard, which is available under a single product grade
GTAT will be growing its production capacity by 60% this year alone. In addition, more furnaces will be added for R&D on products including 200mm diameter n-Type CrystX® and also SI-Type.
Second, we are expanding our production capacity rapidly. With multiple long-term agreements in place, GTAT is currently increasing capacity for 150mm diameter n-type CrystX® by 60% while also adding more furnaces dedicated to R&D. The R&D capacity will be used to develop and produce semi-insulating (SI) CrystX® but also to transition to larger 200mm diameter boules. Moving from 150mm diameter to 200mm diameter boules while growing usable height means higher material yield for customers. This new capacity will be on-line by Fall 2021, with yet another round of expansion slated to begin soon thereafter.
Bringing highest-quality SiC crystal to rapidly growing markets such as EV and renewable energy is a function of GTATs adherence to important quality-management systems. ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949 are two such systems that drive everything we do. In fact, we achieved our ISO 9001:2015 certification in less than a year after beginning the process.
