Electronics manufacturer Cree Inc., Durham, N.C., announces plans to establish the world’s largest silicon carbide fabrication facility in upstate New York, just outside the city of Utica. The maker of LED lighting and semiconductors said the $1 billion “North Fab” facility would produce 200-millimeter wafers for power and radio-frequency applications.
The project, along with the ongoing construction of a mega materials facility at its Durham headquarters, is part of an effort to bolster the company’s Wolfspeed electronics business. The new facility will be up to 480,000 square feet once completed; officials expect highly automated wafer production at North Fab to ramp up in 2022.
Cree’s agreement with New York state, would save the company about $280 million in capital costs and allow for future expansion of the silicon carbide plant. The company said the material will help power 5G networks, electric vehicles, and other next-generation systems.
“Silicon carbide is one of the most pivotal technologies of our time, and is at the heart of enabling innovation across a wide range of today’s most groundbreaking and revolutionary markets,” said Cree CEO Gregg Lowe. The company is set to receive a $500 million state grant and could see additional incentives and abatements from local governments. Cree also expects to receive equipment and tooling from the State University of New York system.
With a mega materials factory in Durham and a state-of-the-art wafer fabrication facility near Utica, Cree will establish a “silicon carbide corridor,” leveraging its 30-year heritage of research and development in the Research Triangle of North Carolina and tapping into the rich technological base of resources situated in New York’s Mohawk Valley.
Cree plans to partner with local community and four-year colleges in North Carolina and New York to develop training and internship programs to prepare its workforce for the high-tech employment and long-term growth opportunities in both locations that the company’s revised expansion plan presents.
