ON Semiconductor today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Silicon Carbide Junction Field-Effect Transistor (SiC JFET) technology business, including its United Silicon Carbide subsidiary, from Qorvo for $115 million.

This acquisition strengthens Onsemi’s broad Elite Silicon Carbide (EliteSiC) power portfolio and enhances its ability to address the growing demand for high energy efficiency and power density in the AC-DC phase of power supplies for AI data centers. This accelerates its preparation for emerging markets such as electric vehicle battery breakers and solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs).

SiC JFETs offer low on-resistance per chip area and use less than half the power of existing technologies. Additionally, common commercial drivers that have been deployed with silicon-based transistors for decades can be used.

These benefits lead to faster development times, reduced energy consumption, and lower system costs, providing value to power supply designers and data center operators.

“As AI workloads become increasingly complex and energy intensive, the importance of reliable SiC JFETs that deliver high energy efficiency and can handle high voltages will increase,” said Simon Keeton, president of ON Semiconductor’s Power Solutions Group. “The addition of Qorvo’s industry-leading SiC JFET technology provides ON Semiconductor’s intelligent power portfolio with yet another solution for customers to optimize energy consumption and enhance power density.”