Realizing the srtict target of zero defect in automobile industry is a huge challenge for silicon carbide substrate manufacturers, who are shifting their focus from 150mm wafers to 200mm wafers and shifting their focus from pure silicon, so they are working hard to achieve sufficient production and reliability,

Silicon carbide is a combination of silicon and hard carbide materials, and due to its wide bandgap, it has become a key technology for battary electric vehicles. Compared to silicon, silicon carbide operates at higher power, higher temperature, and higher switching frequency. These characteristics can be utilized to increase the endurance mileage and shorten charging time.

Silicon carbide is still evolving, and early defect detection can help increase production. Although the production of groove structures is still more complex compared to planar structures, both types of equipment have been commercialized , and a new generation of equipment is about to be launched. Testing and analysis equipments are crucial for increasing production. "early defect inspection and tracing contribute to cost saving and process improvement."

At the wafer level, high-throughput surface defect detection helps detect various types of defects, such as crystal stacking faults, microtubules, pits, scratches, stains, and surface particles. The transparency and high reflectivity of silicon carbide chips are the reasons that make this step challenging. At the epitaxial level, when it comes to large wafer, high operational reproducibility and better uniformity are the must. The ability to accurately and quickly detect and classify defects by using surface detection and photoluminescence can reduce the kill rate. The gate oxide problem at the device level can be detected through time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) detection technology. Lower throughput, complexity, and raw detection tools lead to higher production costs, but they can also optimize processes and ultimately increase production. In addition, the industry is researching 200mm SiC. Transitioning to larger wafers requires additional effort during the inspection and testing phase.

Technological transition from silicon carbide to 200mm wafer has caused other issues, and it takes time before solving them.

There exixts huge needs in the various application of silicon carbide, especially in the automotive field, however, further efforts are still needed to identify and control defects. Partly because, comparatively speaking, the shift towards larger wafer. The requirement for bulk silicon from 200mm to 300mm is very demanding. As SiC's application in key safety fields increases, defects could cause casualities. Moreover,  automotive industry faces huge pressure of cost reduction by improving production, which makes it more complicate. All of this need time to address, hopefully, the market prospect is vigor. consequently, seen from commercial aspect, the motivation to handle these issues are strong, and quite a lot companies would like to dedicated to it.