Littelfuse, based in Chicago, Illinois, has completed the acquisition of Monolith Semiconductor Inc., a startup based in Round Rock, Texas, USA, which develops and researches silicon carbide (SiC) power device technology. Littelfuse started working with Monolith in 2015. In the past three years, while developing a series of technical and commercial products, it has gradually increased its ownership of Monolith.
Ian Highley, senior vice president, general manager and chief technology officer of Littelfuse Semiconductor Products, said, "Completing the acquisition of Monolith Semiconductor is an important part of our growth strategy as we continue to expand the power electronics market," and added that "expanding Silicon carbide technology has allowed us to develop our product portfolio through strategically relevant and innovative products, and we have also seen at many business conferences related to our product area that people are very interested in industrial and automotive applications interest."
Littelfuse introduced its first commercial silicon carbide Schottky diode in May 2017, followed by the first commercial silicon carbide MOSFET in October. To date, the company has released mass production of more than 20 silicon carbide products, with plans to add another 30 more in the coming months.