Universities Expand R&D Efforts In GaN, SiC, GaO - Semiecosystem

Recently, several prominent U.S. universities including Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Texas Tech, University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Warwick have expanded their r... Read original →

The surge in university R&D on wide-bandgap semiconductors is a strategic response to U.S. CHIPS Act and EU IPCEI mandates for supply chain sovereignty. Technically, defect control in GaN/SiC epitaxy is shifting leverage toward equipment makers like Aixtron (MOCVD) and Attolight (CL-SEM), while ultra-wide-bandgap materials like Ga₂O₃—though nascent—are already sparking U.S.-Japan patent races over substrates. Geopolitically, firms are embedding R&D within academia to circumvent export controls amid U.S.-China decoupling. Competitively, Wolfspeed and Infineon will likely flood SiC capacity to deter entrants, while Taiwan, China’s HSMC and High Power may leverage academic IP to adopt IDM models. Over the next 18 months, universities will function as covert arsenals in the semiconductor cold war—their tech-transfer velocity dictating national shares in EV and renewable power electronics.