by David Manners
NEUBIBERG, GERMANY—Infineon has bought Siltectra of Dresden, a start-up with an innovative technology (Cold Split) to process crystal material efficiently and with minimal loss of material.
“This acquisition will help us expand our excellent portfolio with the new material silicon carbide as well. Our system understanding and our unique know how on thin wafer technology will be ideally complemented by the Cold Split technology and the innovative capacity of Siltectra,” said Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon. “Thanks to the Cold Split technology, the higher number of SiC wafers will make the ramp-up of our SiC products much easier, especially regarding further expansion of renewable energies and the increasing adaptation of SiC for use in the drive train of electrical vehicles.”
Siltectra was founded in 2010 and has been growing an IP portfolio with more than 50 patent families.
The start-up developed a technology for splitting crystalline materials with minimal loss of material compared to common sawing technologies.
This technology can also be applied to SiC. The Cold Split technology will be industrialized at the existing Siltectra site in Dresden and at the Infineon site in Villach, Austria.
The transfer to volume production is expected to be completed within the next five years.
It is the only company with volume production on 300 mm silicon thin wafers, so it is well positioned to apply thin wafer technology to SiC products.
Over time, further applications for the Cold Split technology might emerge, such as boule splitting or the use for materials other than silicon carbide.
Electronics Weekly has the complete article