Knowmade’s Q4 2024 SiC Patent Monitor revealed significant growth in the silicon carbide (SiC) intellectual property landscape, with over 900 new patent families and 400 newly granted patents recorded. The quarter also saw 100+ patents expire or be abandoned and featured seven major patent transfers.

Despite the surge in patent activity, no new IP litigation in the U.S. or patent opposition in Europe was reported during this period. However, the sector remained dynamic, with 10 notable patent collaborations and an influx of 25+ new IP players entering the field, signaling continued innovation and competition in the SiC industry.

Focus on leading industry players for this last quarter of 2024

The report places a spotlight on leading companies such as Rohm, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and Wolfspeed, which have significantly influenced the SiC technology domain. Their innovations and strategic moves have been pivotal in advancing technological frontiers and enhancing their position in the competitive landscape.

Notable innovations and collaborations

Continuous innovation within the SiC industry, particularly in the Bulk and bare wafers segment, has led to the emergence of enhanced substrates and reliable power devices. This quarter, for example, NGK Insulators disclosed a composite SiC substrate with a biaxially oriented SiC layer that helps to reduce warpage by controlling a Raman shift value and to prevent breaking and cracking in the substrate during processing by controlling the volume density of base plane dislocations (BDP). Another notable player in the quarter is SICC which published inventions improving 3D stress distribution and reducing internal stress in large-diameter SiC wafers (> 150 mm).

Sumitomo Electric continues to lead IP activities in the Epitaxial substrates segment with four new inventions disclosed during the quarter. The technical issues addressed by Sumitomo Electric in its patent publications are many. A new invention relates to issues in the epitaxial reactor, such as the presence of SiC particles on the susceptor, causing recesses in the rear surface of SiC epitaxial wafers. Another invention focuses on the reduction of certain defects (bump, pit, carrot, triangular defect, downfall) that can be imaged using a confocal scanning device. Eventually, an invention is more closely related to device reliability. It aims to improve recombination efficiency while reducing the required thickness of SiC epilayers, to prevent stacking faults from transferring from the buffer layer to the drift layer.

For the Devices segment, it is interesting to note the patenting activity of several Chinese automotive players, such as NIO and FAW. Especially, NIO stands out this quarter with a European patent publication related to SiC trench MOSFET.  Other players from the automotive supply chain have been actively filing patents in this space during the quarter such as Bosch (e.g., to improve the short-circuit strength of SiC FET) and Nexperia (e.g., to improve on-resistance and surge performance of SiC Schottky diodes).

In the Modules and packaging segment, note that onsemi has disclosed electroless plating methods and systems suitable for SiC devices and that Mitsubishi Electric is still present with two new inventions, of which one to suppress heat occurring in a SiC MOSFET connected in parallel with a Si IGBT, without providing a temperature detection circuit and a current detection circuit. Furthermore, Navitas Semiconductor, a leading player in the power GaN market, is looking to strengthen its patent portfolio for power SiC, with a new invention providing balanced current flow in SiC power modules.

In the Circuits and applications segment, ZF is also continuing its part, with a method of driving parallel-connected SiC-MOSFET and Si-IGBT based on the rapid detection of the current load of the active (switched-on) device. Furthermore, a collaboration has involved BMW with CSA Catapult and the University of Warwick in the UK and led to a new patent publication describing a monitoring device to measure temperature or current in SiC devices under high current load even under rough mechanical conditions (e.g., under strong vibrations, in automotive appliances).

This is one of the noteworthy collaborations highlighting the strategic alliances essential for maintaining technological leadership and fostering innovation. This aspect is explored further in the report.

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