Fairchild acquires SiC firm

The acquisition will provide the semiconductor specialist with bipolar silicon carbide (SiC) transistor technology, which it claims has industry leading efficiencies, strong performance over wide temperature ranges and superior performance over mosfet and jfet technology approaches. "The combination of SiC technology with Fairchild's existing capabilities positions us to continue to be a leader in innovative, high performance power transistor technology," said Mark Thompson, Fairchild's chairman, ceo and president. "The performance levels achieved with the technology will allow for much higher efficiency in power conversion. It also offers a higher switching speed, a feature that enables smaller end system form factors." Thompson believes the device is capable of industry leading efficiency and says it will cut losses relative to established silicon approaches by up to half. "Overall system cost and value can benefit from much smaller, lighter passive components," he concluded. "For systems that require the best efficiency and power density, there is no equal."