Charged EVs | Taiwan’s APEC adopts Silvaco’s TCAD tools for silicon carbide power device development

Silvaco has announced a strategic partnership with Advanced Power Electronics Corp. (APEC), a Taiwan-based developer of silicon and silicon carbide power devices. APEC has made a long-term commitment to Silvaco’s simulation tool suite to accelerate development of next-generation SiC devices for automotive, industrial and renewable energy applications.

APEC will deploy three Silvaco platforms: Victory Device, a 2D simulator for semiconductor process and device modeling; Gateway, which links TCAD output to circuit-level models; and SmartSpice, a SPICE simulator used for device characterization and circuit design. Together, they support Design Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO) — iterating device physics and process parameters alongside circuit performance to hit system-level targets without burning fabrication runs. For SiC specifically, TCAD simulation is a practical necessity: SiC operates at higher electric fields and wider bandgaps than silicon, making device physics harder to predict empirically, and the cost of wafer-level iteration is significant. Simulation lets engineers optimize on-resistance, breakdown voltage and switching behavior before committing to process changes.

“Silvaco’s solutions are an integral part of our design flow, enabling us to explore complex device physics and optimize our SiC technologies,” said Dr. CS Chang, President of APEC. “The combination of Victory Device, Gateway, and SmartSpice provides us with a comprehensive solution that bridges the gap between process development and circuit design.”

SiC MOSFETs and Schottky barrier diodes have become the standard for high-efficiency EV inverters and DC fast chargers, where lower switching losses and higher frequency operation translate directly to smaller, lighter power electronics.

Source: Silvaco