The civilian market for SiC (Silicon Carbide) power components has grown exponentially since the 2010s, thanks to the needs of the automotive and solar industries. The industrial offer is now mature for 1200 V and 1700 V SiC components, whether diodes or MOSFETs. However, as breakdown voltage increases, the supply on the market becomes increasingly scarce. This is due to the small size of the market and the technological difficulties still to be resolved. However, the SiC semiconductor is probably even more attractive at higher voltages (3.3 kV-10 kV) than Si (silicon) and SiC solutions. It should be noted that in the higher breakdown voltage classes, bipolar devices such as GTOs should be available sooner than MOSFETs due to their higher current and voltage capacities, and less complex reliability issues. Bipolar devices will therefore be useful for the civilian market, even if they are considered less practical from an applications point of view.

One of the most obvious applications for high-voltage SiC thyristors is power electronics in pulsed mode. With this in mind, the Institut Saint Louis (ISL) and the Ampère laboratory have studied in depth the potential of SiC technology to design and manufacture efficient thyristors capable of withstanding high voltages and currents. These studies have created a wealth of knowledge and know-how that is almost unique in the field, at least in Europe.

The project CARTHAGE project presents an opportunity to transform the previously developed concepts by ISL and Ampère in a semi-industrial product using stable, repetitive and in-line controlled processing.