Sicoxs

About Sicoxs

Sicoxs Corporation specializes in the manufacturing and sale of direct bonded silicon carbide (SiC) substrates, marketed under the brand name SiCkrest®. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the company operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. following its acquisition on March 1, 2022. Sicoxs serves the chemicals and general-purpose semiconductors industries, with a primary focus on producing advanced materials for power devices, particularly for the electric vehicle (EV) market.

The company's core offering, the SiCkrest® substrate, utilizes a proprietary bonding technology to fuse a thin, high-quality monocrystalline SiC layer onto a low-resistance polycrystalline SiC support substrate. This two-layer structure achieves both high performance and cost-effectiveness, delivering low resistance across the entire substrate while maintaining the superior characteristics of monocrystalline SiC. The technology is designed to reduce power loss, even at high temperatures, making it suitable for automotive applications requiring high current and voltage. Furthermore, this manufacturing process is environmentally conscious, as it allows for the creation of more than 50 direct bonded substrates from a single monocrystalline substrate, reducing energy consumption and enabling a flexible response to growing market demand.

Sicoxs has been developing its mass-production capabilities since 2017, initially with a 6-inch substrate line. In response to market needs for larger substrates, the company established a development line for 8-inch substrates in July 2022, with sample shipments beginning in September 2024. Sicoxs is expanding its production capacity with a new mass production line at its Ohkuchi Plant, aiming to produce over 10,000 substrates per month (in 6-inch equivalents) by the latter half of fiscal year 2025. In addition to substrate sales, the company's business model includes licensing its bonding technology and supplying polycrystalline SiC support substrates to licensees.