Technology

Why Silicon
Carbide.

SiCBerg's technology platform focuses on continuous semiconductor innovation designed to improve device efficiency, reliability, and scalability.

01 — Material Science

The Physics Behind the Advantage

Silicon carbide is a compound semiconductor formed by equal parts silicon and carbon atoms arranged in a tetrahedral crystal lattice. Its unique atomic bonding gives rise to extraordinary electrical and thermal properties.

4H-SiC Polytype

Hexagonal crystal structure with 4-layer stacking sequence

Preferred Polytype

Polytypic Crystal Structure

SiC exists in over 250 polytypes — distinct crystal arrangements of Si and C atoms. The 4H-SiC polytype dominates power electronics due to its isotropic electron mobility and superior electrical properties along the c-axis.

Extreme Chemical Stability

The Si–C bond energy of 4.6 eV makes SiC chemically inert to most acids, alkalis, and oxidizing agents even at elevated temperatures. This enables reliable operation in harsh industrial and aerospace environments.

Baliga Figure of Merit

SiC's Baliga Figure of Merit (BFOM) — a key metric for unipolar power devices — is approximately 400× higher than silicon. This directly translates to dramatically lower conduction losses in MOSFETs and Schottky diodes.

Epitaxial Growth Precision

Modern 4H-SiC epitaxy achieves doping uniformity below ±3% across 150mm wafers. SiCBerg's proprietary process controls micropipe density to <0.1 cm⁻², enabling high-yield, high-reliability device fabrication.

3.26 eV

Bandgap

vs 1.12 eV (Si)

3 MV/cm

Breakdown Field

vs 0.3 MV/cm (Si)

490 W/m·K

Thermal Conductivity

vs 150 W/m·K (Si)

400×

Baliga FOM

higher than silicon

02 — SiC vs Silicon

Property-by-Property Comparison

Every key material parameter compared side-by-side. The numbers tell the story of why SiC is replacing silicon in high-performance power systems.

Bandgap Energy

Unit: eV

SiC: 2.9× wider

4H-SiC3.26 eV

Silicon (Si)1.12 eV

SiC's wide bandgap enables operation at much higher voltages and temperatures without breakdown.

Breakdown Field

Unit: MV/cm

SiC: 10× stronger

4H-SiC3.0 MV/cm

Silicon (Si)0.3 MV/cm

Ten times higher critical field strength allows thinner drift layers and dramatically lower on-resistance.

Thermal Conductivity

Unit: W/m·K

SiC: 3.3× better

4H-SiC490 W/m·K

Silicon (Si)150 W/m·K

Superior heat dissipation means smaller heatsinks, higher power density, and longer device lifetime.

Electron Saturation Velocity

Unit: ×10⁷ cm/s

SiC: 2× faster

4H-SiC2.0 ×10⁷ cm/s

Silicon (Si)1.0 ×10⁷ cm/s

Faster carrier velocity enables higher switching frequencies and reduced switching losses.

Max Junction Temperature

Unit: °C

SiC: 4× higher

4H-SiC600 °C

Silicon (Si)150 °C

SiC devices can operate reliably at extreme temperatures, eliminating complex thermal management.

03 — Performance Radar

Multi-Dimensional Performance

Across every critical performance dimension, SiC dominates. This radar chart visualizes the complete performance gap between SiC and silicon power devices.

4H-SiC

Silicon

Voltage Rating

Si: 40SiC: 95

Switching Speed

Si: 45SiC: 90

Thermal Performance

Si: 35SiC: 88

Power Density

Si: 38SiC: 92

Efficiency

Si: 55SiC: 94

High-Temp Operation

Si: 28SiC: 96

04 — Device-Level Comparison

SiC MOSFET vs Si IGBT

The most direct comparison in power electronics: SiCBerg's SiC MOSFETs against the incumbent silicon IGBT technology.

Feature

SiC MOSFET

Si IGBT

Blocking Voltage

Up to 1700V+

Up to 600V typical

Switching Frequency

Up to 200 kHz

Up to 50 kHz

On-Resistance (RDS(on))

15–100 mΩ

100–500 mΩ

Gate Oxide Reliability

Excellent (SiO₂ native)

Body Diode Performance

No reverse recovery

Slow reverse recovery

Thermal Resistance

Very low

Moderate

Maturity / Ecosystem

Rapidly maturing

Fully mature

Why SiC Wins in Power Conversion

The elimination of minority carrier storage in SiC MOSFETs removes the tail current that plagues IGBTs during turn-off. This single advantage enables switching frequencies 4–10× higher, directly reducing passive component size and overall system complexity.

Combined with the integrated body diode that exhibits no reverse recovery charge (Qrr ≈ 0), SiC MOSFETs eliminate the need for external freewheeling diodes — reducing component count, PCB area, and total system losses simultaneously.

Zero Tail Current

No minority carrier storage means clean, fast switching transitions at any frequency.

Zero Qrr Body Diode

Integrated body diode with no reverse recovery — eliminates external diodes.

Lower Thermal Load

Reduced switching losses translate directly to lower junction temperatures.

Simpler Gate Drive

Standard gate drive voltages (0/+15V or -5/+20V) with no complex desaturation circuits.

05 — Efficiency Benchmarks

Real-World Converter Efficiency

Efficiency benchmarks across converter topologies. SiC-based designs consistently achieve 99%+ efficiency — a level simply unattainable with silicon.

Converter Topology

Peak Efficiency

Baseline: 95% — Scale: 95–100%

Si IGBT Inverter

—

Si MOSFET Converter

—

SiC MOSFET Converter

—

SiC Full-Bridge Inverter

—

SiC-based

Si-based

The 1% That Changes Everything

Every fraction of a percent matters at scale

In a 1 MW solar inverter running 8 hours per day, the difference between 97% and 99.5% efficiency represents over 73 MWh of recovered energy per year — enough to power 20 homes.

At grid scale, across thousands of installations, SiC's efficiency advantage translates to billions of kilowatt-hours saved annually and a measurable reduction in global carbon emissions.

73 MWh/year

Energy recovered per 1 MW inverter vs. Si baseline

35 tonnes CO₂

Annual carbon reduction per installation

40% smaller

Passive component size reduction at 4× higher frequency

The Future of Power

Put the Physics
to Work.

Explore SiCBerg's full device portfolio — from discrete MOSFETs and Schottky diodes to full power modules — and find the right SiC solution for your application.

Why SiliconCarbide.