Expansion of silicon carbide manufacturing facility hailed in Hudson

Shown at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for onsemi’s new silicon carbide production facility in Hudson are, from left: Felicity Carson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of onsemi; U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan; Catherine Côté, vice president and chief of staff to the CEO of onsemi; U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen; Tobin Cookman, senior vice president of human resources at onsemi; Hassane El-Khoury, president, CEO and director of onsemi; Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; Joe Loiselle, vice president of silicon carbide operations and general manager of the Hudson site; U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster; Simon Keeton, executive vice president and general manager of onsemi’s Power Solutions Group; Thad Trent, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the firm; U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas; and Dr Wei-Chung Wang, onsemi’s executive vice president of global manufacturing and operations.

Just days after President Biden signed into law the CHIPS Act –legislation aimed at pumping billions of dollars into semiconductor investment and development in the U.S. – Arizona-based onsemi last week cut the ribbon on its newly expanded facility in Hudson.

The company – one of the nation’s largest makers of semiconductors, says the facility – the site of the former GTAT Advanced Technologies – will increase the firm’s production capacity by five times and almost quadruple the number of employees already in Hudson by the end of 2022.

The company also says the expansion gives it full control of its silicon carbide manufacturing supply chain, starting with the sourcing of silicon carbide powder and graphite raw material to the delivery of fully packaged devices.

Silicon carbide is a key component used in manufacturing electric vehicles as well as EV charging and energy infrastructure.

Among those at the ribbon-cutting were Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo as well as both of New Hampshire’s U.S. senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, as well as U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster. All four members of the state’s congressional delegation voted in support of the CHIPs Act.

In its second quarter earnings report, onsemi announced that it will generate roughly $4 billion in silicon carbide-related revenue over the next three years through long-term supply contracts with various customers. onsemi’s sales target for silicon carbide next year is over $1 billion. The global market is expected to grow from $2 billion in 2021 to $6.5 billion by 2026.

“In the (silicon carbide) market, where supply has been limited, onsemi can provide a differentiated competitive advantage with our end-to-end vertically integrated solutions on top of product efficiency,” said Simon Keeton, vice president of onsemi Power Solutions Group. “We are now able to source cutting-edge (silicon carbide) wafers for our customers’ products,” he adds.