Coherent has begun customer sampling of 300 mm high thermal conductivity silicon carbide (SiC) substrates to AI semiconductor partners, aiming at thermal management needs in AI and high-performance computing systems. The move takes Coherent’s 300 mm SiC platform from internal development into customer evaluation.

Coherent describes the substrates as engineered for heat-spreading applications such as next-generation heat spreaders and related packaging solutions. The company says the high thermal conductivity substrates can improve heat spreading by up to 25% compared with current solutions while maintaining compatibility with existing semiconductor manufacturing platforms.

The platform is built on vertically integrated SiC capabilities, including crystal growth, wafering, polishing, and characterization. Coherent ties that end-to-end control to progression toward future high-volume manufacturing for 300 mm substrates.

For data center and AI infrastructure teams, better heat spreading at the package level is a direct lever on system constraints that show up later as higher junction temperatures, tighter cooling margins, and pressure to keep rack power density in check. But “customer sampling” is an evaluation phase, not a statement that 300 mm SiC substrates are in volume production or broadly available yet.

“AI performance is increasingly constrained by the industry’s ability to remove heat from next-generation processors,” said Craig Mullaney, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Coherent. “Advanced SiC thermal management materials can play an important role in addressing that challenge.”

More information is available at Coherent.

Source: Coherent.