The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has successfully transferred its 'silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor ion implantation evaluation technology' to a Hungarian company, thereby enhancing the price competitiveness of high-performance SiC power semiconductors and contributing to mass production.

KERI announced on the 11th that it recently transferred its "silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor ion implantation evaluation technology" to Semilab (Chairman Tibor Pavelka), a semiconductor measurement equipment specialist based in Budapest, Hungary.

Semilab Co., Ltd., with 30 years of experience, has manufacturing plants in Hungary and the United States and is a company holding patents for medium-sized precision measuring equipment and material characterization equipment, possessing the world's best technology in semiconductor characterization equipment technology.

Both parties expect that this technology transfer will enable the standardization of high-quality SiC. Semilab Co., Ltd. plans to develop specialized equipment capable of evaluating the ion implantation process of SiC power semiconductors using KERI technology.

Park Soo-yong, Branch Manager of Semilab Korea, said, “Through the development of specialized equipment, we will be able to lower the defect rate that may occur in the ion implantation process and increase the yield of the device,” adding, “This will serve as a major foundation for stably securing a high-quality ion implantation mass production process with excellent uniformity and reproducibility.”


Power semiconductors are core components of electrical and electronic devices, playing a role akin to muscles in the human body by controlling the direction of current and managing power conversion. While there are various materials used for power semiconductors, SiC is receiving the most attention due to its superior material properties, such as high durability and power efficiency. When SiC power semiconductors are installed in electric vehicles, they can reduce battery power consumption and decrease the weight and volume of the vehicle body, potentially leading to an energy efficiency improvement of up to 10%.

While SiC power semiconductors have many advantages, their manufacturing process is also very demanding. Previously, a method was used to form devices by forming an epitaxial layer (a layer forming a single-crystal semiconductor thin film) on a highly conductive wafer (substrate) and passing current through that region. However, during this process, problems arose where the surface of the epitaxial layer became rough and the electron mobility decreased. The high price of the epi wafer itself became a major obstacle to mass production.

To solve this, KERI utilized a method of implanting ions into semi-insulating SiC wafers without an epitaxial layer. Ion implantation, which enables the wafer to be conductive, is the process of breathing life into the semiconductor.

Because SiC materials are hard, it was a difficult technology to implement in practice, as it required ion implantation with very high energy followed by heat treatment at high temperatures to activate them. On the other hand, KERI succeeded in securing related technologies through the operational experience of a SiC-dedicated ion implantation device accumulated over more than 10 years.

Kim Hyung-woo, Head of the Next-Generation Semiconductor Research Center at KERI, stated, “Ion implantation technology can increase the current flow of semiconductor devices and significantly reduce process costs by replacing expensive epi wafers,” adding, “It is a major technology that enhances the price competitiveness of high-performance SiC power semiconductors and contributes to mass production.”

Meanwhile, KERI is a government-funded research institute under the National Science and Technology Research Council of the Ministry of Science and ICT. It boasts the highest level in the country in the field of power semiconductor research, holding over 120 intellectual property rights and achieving technology transfer results of over 3 billion won over the past 10 years.