Wolfspeed has introduced its fifth-generation silicon carbide MOSFET technology for 1,200 V and 750 V automotive and industrial applications.

The company says these new chips offer the lowest specific on-resistance (RSP) available in a 5×5 mm SiC footprint. The 1,200 V QEM50120-025D10 achieves a chip-level RSP of 3.4 mΩ·cm² at 175° C. The 750 V QEM50075-025D10 hits 2.0 mΩ·cm² at 175° C. Both parts hold RDS(ON) distribution to ±18%, which reduces the design margin engineers need to account for part-to-part variation in inverter thermal and efficiency budgets.

Gen 5 also raises the continuous junction temperature rating to 200° C (215° C limited life), while retaining Gen 4’s soft body diode. Reverse recovery charge has also been reduced, bringing overall switching losses down alongside the conduction loss improvement. Lower RSP in a fixed die area means a given inverter footprint can pass more current, enabling smaller traction inverters, better efficiency at high temperatures and the option to downsize battery packs rather than compensate for inverter losses with extra capacity. Wolfspeed also notes that the technology allows solid-state circuit breaker designs to be used as a replacement for mechanical relays in EV architectures.

Gen 5 is the second Wolfspeed MOSFET generation built on the company’s 200 mm wafer platform in Mohawk Valley, New York, and requires no new manufacturing toolsets for volume production—a deliberate design choice that Wolfspeed is positioning as a low-risk upgrade path for customers already qualified on Gen 4.

“For customers facing compressed development timelines, that means faster validation, faster qualification, and faster time to market—without sacrificing the performance they know and trust,” said Dr. Adam Barkley, VP of Power Device and Package Development.

Source: Wolfspeed