[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] DB HiTek Co.,LTD has completed reliability verification of its 1,200-volt (V) silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor process based on 8-inch wafers. The company plans to support its customers’ product development and establish a mass production system by 2027 to target the next-generation power semiconductor foundry market.

DB HiTek Co.,LTD announced that it has secured the reliability of its 8-inch 1,200-volt SiC MOSFET process and will provide a Process Design Kit (PDK) to its customers.

SiC is a material used in electric vehicles, renewable energy facilities, and industrial power equipment because it exhibits lower power loss than conventional silicon in high-temperature and high-voltage environments. While 6-inch wafers are currently the standard, the industry is transitioning to 8-inch processes, which allow for the production of more chips per wafer, thereby reducing costs.

DB HiTek Co.,LTD has developed a process capable of producing high-power MOSFETs on 8-inch wafers. The company explained that it has established the world’s first turnkey 8-inch 1200V SiC foundry process, which provides support ranging from design and manufacturing to electrical characterization and reliability verification.

To lower the design entry barriers for its customers, the company also supplies its in-house developed first- and second-generation 1200V SiC MOSFET PDKs. The PDKs contain process rules, device characteristics, and data for design and verification required for semiconductor design.

Customers can use the PDK to design products tailored to DB HiTek Co.,LTD’s processes and accelerate prototype production. DB HiTek Co.,LTD estimates that this will reduce the initial development burden and shorten product development time by more than one year.

The currently available second-generation process achieves characteristics of a resistivity of 2.5 mΩ·cm² or less and a threshold voltage of 3 V or higher under a gate voltage of 18 V. Reliability verification to confirm that the power semiconductors can operate stably in high-voltage environments has also been completed.

The company plans to unveil a third-generation PDK with enhanced performance this coming November. The goal of the third-generation process is to reduce the sheet resistance to 2.3 mΩ·cm² or less under the same gate voltage conditions. Lower sheet resistance is advantageous for reducing power loss and heat generation.

The company is currently conducting verification tests with a target Short-Circuit Withstand Time (SCWT)—the duration a device can withstand a short circuit without damage—of 2.5 microseconds (μs) or more. Once verification is complete, the company plans to provide the third-generation PDK to its customers.

DB HiTek Co.,LTD plans to prioritize providing the process to existing customers with whom it has collaborated for many years during the third quarter of this year, and expand the service to all customers starting in the second quarter of 2027. The company aims to establish a full-scale mass production system for 8-inch SiC products by that same year.

A DB HiTek Co.,LTD official stated, “Through this validation, we have secured the core process technologies and mass production infrastructure necessary for 8-inch SiC foundry services,” adding, “We will prepare for mass production in 2027 without a hitch to expand our competitiveness as a next-generation power semiconductor foundry.”