{"id":2400,"date":"2022-10-24T11:08:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T15:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ece.ncsu.edu\/?p=254727"},"modified":"2022-10-24T11:08:27","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T15:08:27","slug":"wolfspeed-ahead-an-nc-state-spinoff-powers-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/2022\/wolfspeed-ahead-an-nc-state-spinoff-powers-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolfspeed Ahead: An NC State Spinoff Powers the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

There were times Wolfspeed Chief Technology Officer John Palmour says he felt like fellow NC\u00a0State alum Zach Galifianakis\u2019s character in The Hangover<\/em>: A Wolfpack of One.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, for the longest time as part of the leadership at Cree Inc., creating silicon carbide semiconductor devices for power and radio frequency applications was not the market focus of the Triangle-based company. Cree first developed the blue LEDs necessary for large, full-color video screens and billboards and produced the first consumer household LED lightbulb.<\/p>\n

Now, after the spinoff recently spun off both its LED and lighting divisions, Wolfspeed is proving that its more efficient silicon carbide wide bandgap semiconductors are critical for improving the efficiency and performance of electric vehicles and many other applications in transportation, communications and energy storage.<\/p>\n

All of it is based on technology and research that started four decades ago when Palmour and a group of four other graduate students first began working with silicon carbide and gallium nitride materials \u2014 both of which have proven advantages over the traditional silicon that makes up about 90% of the global semiconductor market.<\/p>\n

Made in N.C.<\/h3>\n

Palmour believes Wolfspeed will transform that market, not only thanks to NC\u00a0State-founded technology, but with the help of the University of North Carolina System\u2019s two biggest land-grant institutions, NC\u00a0State and North Carolina A&T in Greensboro.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the biggest reasons Wolfspeed recently announced its plans to locate the world\u2019s largest silicon carbide materials manufacturing facility<\/a> in Chatham County, about 45 miles west of NC\u00a0State\u2019s campus and near Wolfspeed\u2019s existing Durham County headquarters and manufacturing hub.<\/p>\n

The multibillion-dollar facility was announced last month by the State of North Carolina and was secured through partnerships with the NC\u00a0State Office of External Affairs, Partnerships and Economic Development and North Carolina A&T. The facility will bring more than 1,800 high-paying technical jobs to an emerging area of the state.<\/p>\n

That was important to Palmour, a Raleigh native and two-time NC\u00a0State graduate who values state-funded education and research and believes his company\u2019s work will solve one of the world\u2019s most pressing challenges: the global move from internal combustion engine (ICE) technology to electric vehicle (EV) technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope what we are doing will bring about the end of the ICE age,\u201d Palmour says.<\/p>\n

A Raleigh Foundation<\/h3>\n

Palmour is an NC\u00a0State legacy who has spent more than four decades devoted to expanding the use of silicon carbide technology. Born at the old Rex Hospital at the intersection of Wade Avenue and St. Mary\u2019s Drive, he graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School near downtown and grew up going to his father\u2019s lab at NC\u00a0State\u2019s ceramics engineering department, which predated the current materials science and engineering department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
John Palmour inside an NC\u00a0State lab in the 1980s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professor Hayne Palmour III (\u201861 Ph.D.) spent some 56 years as an active and emeritus professor of ceramics engineering. He and his son John were both elected into the department\u2019s inaugural hall of fame class in 2015. John Palmour established a scholarship in his father\u2019s honor <\/a>in 1998.<\/p>\n

John Palmour was accepted into programs at other top engineering schools, but struck a deal with his father to attend NC\u00a0State \u2014 as long as he could live in a residence hall, not in the family home not too far from campus. That in-state tuition was a money-saving proposition for his parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at four schools and three of them were out of state,\u201d he says. \u201cI told my dad, I\u2019ll go to State and save you a bunch of money if you let me live in the dorms and pretend like I live out of town.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDeal,\u201d Hayne Palmour said.<\/p>\n

The younger Palmour was accepted into NC\u00a0State\u2019s School of Engineering but didn\u2019t immediately decide on a discipline to study. His familiarity with his father\u2019s work in ceramics engineering didn\u2019t really sway him, but he ultimately did choose to study materials science and engineering, and he initially worked on projects that included high-tech ceramics for radioactive waste containment, space shuttle tiles and other high-heat materials research.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t so much follow my father\u2019s footsteps as fall into them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Palmour was also elected into the National Academy of Engineering\u2019s 2022 class for his work to advance silicon carbide-based devices.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From left, Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe, Nancy and John Palmour, and Wolfspeed board member Marvin Riley at Palmour\u2019s induction into the National Academy of Engineering earlier this month.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leading With LEDs<\/h3>\n

During the spring of 1983, in between celebrating the men\u2019s basketball team\u2019s unlikely victories in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Palmour and four graduate school classmates \u2014 Calvin Carter, Thomas Coleman, John Edmond and Neal Hunter \u2014 spent their time in the Riddick Engineering Laboratories developing a solution for what many see as the answer to the biggest question currently facing sustainable energy sources: the development of wide bandgap semiconductors made of silicon carbide to improve the efficiency and cost of EV batteries and RF power amplifiers.<\/p>\n

For years, those semiconductors were used in the development of blue LED lights. The work the students began under NC\u00a0State materials science and engineering professor Robert Davis was spun off from NC\u00a0State as Cree Research in 1987 and, while based in Research Triangle Park, eventually became the world\u2019s largest producer of LED lighting.<\/p>\n

Cree developed lighting solutions, such as back-lit screens for cell phones and lighting systems that have advanced into full-color displays like the new lighting that bathes Carter-Finley Stadium in constant waves of red and white.<\/p>\n

That work proved a financial boon that allowed further research and development of wide bandgap technology.<\/p>\n

A Game-Changer<\/h3>\n

Using silicon carbide and gallium nitride as the foundation for their products, the power devices Palmour and his team developed improved performance by a factor of 10; their reduced size made them lighter and more efficient. Originally, their microwave applications were used for military purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe end goal was for high-power microwave devices, and we still do that,\u201d Palmour says. \u201cBasically, the ability to operate at much higher electrical fields allows us to operate far more efficiently than the incumbent silicon devices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The focus of Wolfspeed is now on more efficient power systems for EVs and other applications, such as renewable energy and storage, driven by silicon carbide semiconductors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where they\u2019re a game-changer,\u201d says NC\u00a0State Chancellor Randy Woodson. \u201cTheir technology really is at the heart of the new generation of electric vehicles and essentially everything that is trying to use stored energy to operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

That evolving technology was the driving force behind President Barack Obama\u2019s push for creating PowerAmerica, a Department of Energy-funded institute headquartered on NC\u00a0State\u2019s Centennial Campus. Obama announced PowerAmerica\u2019s creation<\/a> at a national event staged on NC\u00a0State\u2019s campus on Jan. 15, 2014.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>
President Obama announces the launch of PowerAmerica at NC\u00a0State in 2014.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through public-private partnerships, PowerAmerica\u2019s mission is to bring the technology to market in order to reduce the nation\u2019s energy consumption and boost manufacturing competitiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWolfspeed, and John Palmour in particular, played a leadership role in helping PowerAmerica win the grant and also get up and running,\u201d says John Muth, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC\u00a0State. \u201cBy bringing together industry members from across the supply chain to collaborate with academia and government, everyone has benefitted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focusing on Silicon Carbide<\/h3>\n

In 2015, the power and RF division of Cree became Wolfspeed, a name wholly endorsed by the NC\u00a0State alumni in its corporate leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to pay homage to our NC\u00a0State roots,\u201d Palmour says.<\/p>\n

The Wolfspeed division was going to be spun off into its own company, then purchased by an international conglomerate. A proposed deal was nixed because of national security concerns.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Cree hired CEO Gregg Lowe and sold its lighting and LED divisions to focus solely on silicon carbide materials and semiconductor devices. The entire company was rebranded as Wolfspeed last year, with a streaking wolf in its logo and a line of power modules that includes \u201cwolf\u201d in the name.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, the company broke ground in New York on the world\u2019s first, largest and only silicon carbide wafer fabrication facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, we were sort of the redheaded stepchild of the business because we weren\u2019t paying the bills like the lighting and LED divisions,\u201d Palmour says. \u201cWe were always scraping for resources and funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always kind of felt like a Wolfpack of one.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s no longer the case. And the acceleration of Wolfspeed\u2019s power and RF semiconductor devices into the sole focus of the company is what positioned it to make a game-changing announcement on Sept. 9.<\/p>\n

Powering the Future<\/h3>\n

In the shadow of that announcement, Palmour wanted to share the importance of bringing a major materials production facility to his home state, where manufacturing has traditionally been roughly one-quarter of the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

He knew that Wolfspeed would not only benefit from the homegrown technical talent produced by the state\u2019s university system but would also bring more economic prosperity to an area of the state that has the infrastructure for growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a fan of the UNC System,\u201d Palmour says. \u201cIt\u2019s still one of the best deals on earth, and it gives access to education for so many people.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is all very, very gratifying for me \u2014 there is no other way to say it. We already employ a couple of thousand workers here in North Carolina. That\u2019s going to go up dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s music to the ears of Woodson, leader of the state\u2019s largest university and one of the nation\u2019s top producers of ready-to-work talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWolfspeed could have built this plant anywhere, but from the beginning, they wanted to support North Carolina because North Carolina has supported them,\u201d Woodson says. \u201cThey also have access to the talent produced at NC\u00a0State and NC A&T to provide the workforce necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a company that was founded out of research from our university and populated with people that call North Carolina home is huge for the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palmour,<\/a>
Palmour, second from right, joins business and state leaders at the College of Engineering\u2019s Industry Day on Oct. 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Strength of the Wolf<\/h3>\n

NC\u00a0State helped land Wolfspeed\u2019s expansion in Chatham County by working closely with statewide economic development agencies, and by leveraging the expertise of faculty members such as Muth and Dan Stancil in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Fred Kish and Phil Barletta in the university\u2019s Nanofabrication Facility.<\/p>\n

Tom White, NC\u00a0State\u2019s director of economic development, who led the university\u2019s coordination with partners throughout the recruitment, says the teamwork was instrumental in bringing the concept to reality.<\/p>\n

The new factory will concentrate on producing 200mm silicon wafers for its Mohawk Valley facility in New York, where those wafers will be fabricated into power semiconductor devices for customers.<\/p>\n

The primary purpose is to solve the vexing problem of making EVs more commercially viable and affordable at a time the driving public is eager for solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the penetration of electric vehicles in the American market, it is still very low,\u201d Palmour says. \u201cSomething like 3% of all cars sold are EVs, but that is predicted to go to 30% or 40% by 2030.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the new factory is to meet that market demand for the late \u201820s and early \u201830s. If we get the market penetration we are hoping for, the cost of ICE vehicles will go up and battery EVs will go down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, it is a no-brainer to buy a battery electric vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Efficient, Reliable and Smarter<\/h3>\n

Wolfspeed is also involved in manufacturing ubiquitous components for other applications that include variable speed drives, like HVAC systems, robotic motors and high-frequency power supplies for semiconductor production.<\/p>\n

\u201cSilicon carbide will eventually be critical in almost every car, solar and wind farm, large industrial machine and data center,\u201d Muth says. \u201cIt also has significant implications for the power grid and infrastructure critical for our national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect that silicon carbide and ultra wide bandgap materials will make our electric grid efficient, reliable and smarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

That technology is possible through the work that began at NC\u00a0State and will continue as Wolfspeed expands its manufacturing facilities throughout the central part of the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the United States, North Carolina is already the epicenter of silicon carbide and we intend to keep it that way,\u201d Palmour says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/div>\n

The company that pioneered LED lighting now looks to improve the efficiency and performance of electric vehicles and other high-power applications. Meet the people building the world’s largest silicon carbide manufacturing facility in Chatham County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1867,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[179,180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-research"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400\/revisions\/2401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}