Coherent has started sending 300mm silicon carbide substrates to customers for evaluation, aiming the high-thermal-conductivity wafers at the heat problems piling up inside AI data centers, where general manager Craig Mullaney says processor heat extraction has become the industry’s newest hard wall.
Heat spreading could improve by as much as 25 percent versus today’s solutions, the company claims, without forcing chipmakers to change their manufacturing platforms. SiC brings together high thermal conductivity, mechanical strength and thermal stability, which makes it a candidate for heat spreaders and advanced packaging at a moment when rising power densities in AI processors are turning heat removal into a performance bottleneck.
Coherent controls the full chain, from SiC crystal growth through wafering, polishing and characterization, a structure it says should ease the move from sampling into volume production if demand follows. The 300mm size matches the wafer diameter already standard in advanced fabs, which should make the material simpler to slot into existing lines.
The sampling push extends a 300mm SiC program Coherent began building late last year, giving the company a foothold among packaging houses that are scrambling for cooling options.
