Axcelis, GE Aerospace team on silicon carbide power device development

Summary points: 

• Axcelis Technologies and GE Aerospace launched a joint development program focused on 6.5 to 10 kV silicon carbide superjunction power devices.
• The effort supports GE Aerospace’s Advanced High Voltage Silicon Carbide Switches project under the CLAWS Hub, led by North Carolina State University.
• Axcelis’ Purion XEmax high-energy implanter will be used to develop production processes with implantation energies up to 15 MeV.

BEVERLY, Mass. - Axcelis Technologies Inc. in Beverly, Mass., has launched a joint development program with GE Aerospace in Cincinnati to advance production-ready 6.5 to 10 kilovolt superjunction power devices. The companies will collaborate using Axcelis’ Purion XEmax high-energy implanter, which delivers beam energies up to 15 MeV and provides high-beam currents across a wide range of energies.

The program supports the Advanced High Voltage Silicon Carbide Switches project led by GE Aerospace under the Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) Hub, managed by North Carolina State University. The effort aims to improve the performance and manufacturability of silicon carbide (SiC) power switches for aerospace, defense, and commercial applications.

SiC wide bandgap semiconductors are increasingly viewed as a cornerstone technology for next-generation electronics. Compared with traditional silicon, SiC can handle higher voltages, operate at elevated temperatures and frequencies, and enable reduced power consumption. These characteristics allow for smaller packaging and higher efficiency, which is essential for applications ranging from avionics and defense systems to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, autonomous vehicles, and a more resilient electrical grid.

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Advancing tech

"We are proud to collaborate with GE Aerospace in this endeavor, which has the potential to accelerate superjunction technology adoption," said Russell Low, president and CEO of Axcelis. "Axcelis is committed to providing equipment and process expertise that supports our customers’ device roadmaps."

GE Aerospace currently sells SiC-based power electronics through its Electrical Power business for use in aircraft and ground vehicles. Researchers are also targeting future flight applications in extreme environments such as hypersonic vehicles and space missions, and enabling electric propulsion.

"High voltage SiC power devices are an important enabler for critical emerging applications and future endeavors, including hypersonic travel, electric propulsion, and space exploration," said Ljubisa Stevanovic, chief engineer at GE Aerospace Research. "We are excited to partner with Axcelis on this project, due to their expertise in ion implantation for SiC power devices and their market-leading portfolio of high-energy ion implanters."

Axcelis’ Purion XEmax system is designed to optimize depth and concentration profiles, reduce the number of process steps, and achieve aluminum implantation channeling depths exceeding 7 microns. The tool is intended to deliver flexibility for developing next-generation semiconductor processes in both research and production settings.