Silicon Carbide MOSFET Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- Flat, not booming. Filings peaked at just 10 in 2024 after a 2022 midpoint of 3 — this is a mature niche, not a land grab.
- Two lineages carry most of the influence. The most-cited records sit in ESD-protection structures and Cree's MOS-gated bipolar junction transistor line, not in newer entrants.
- Control-electronics integration is thin. Motor-control and propulsion classes (H02P, B60L) each hold just 7 records against 41 in the core semiconductor-device class.
A mature device layer, a thin systems layer
Silicon carbide MOSFET miniaturization covers two connected engineering problems: shrinking the repeating unit cell to raise current density per die area, and integrating multiple functions — switching, protection, sometimes control — onto a single wide-band-gap substrate. The 56 patent families in this dataset span 2015 through mid-2026, with filing activity concentrated in the semiconductor-device core (H01L, H10D) rather than in the surrounding drive and control electronics.
The most-cited records in the corpus are structural rather than incremental: an electrostatic-discharge protection architecture and a MOS-gated bipolar junction transistor topology from Cree's early filings. Both continue to shape how later filers draft around them, which is a useful signal for anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Filings in this dataset run from 2017 through the 2026 partial year, with a peak in 2024. The IPC spread shows where the claim density sits and where it thins out.
A flat-to-declining filing curve
Filings rose from a single record in 2017 to a peak of 10 in 2024, but the 2022 midpoint of 3 sits well below a straight growth line to that peak, and 2026 is still a partial year. Read the most recent two years as understated rather than as a real slowdown, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
Concentration in core semiconductor-device classes
H01L carries the largest share of records at 41, with the newer H10D general semiconductor-device classification close behind at 18 — together these two account for most of the corpus. Power-and-control classes (H03K, B60L, H02J, H02P) each sit in the single-to-low-double digits, marking the integration layer as comparatively open.
Shares are the percentage of the 56 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Silicon Carbide MOSFET Miniaturization and Integration with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about silicon carbide mosfet miniaturization and integration and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe record that defines the core claim territory
High Breakdown Voltage Wide Band-Gap MOS-Gated Bipolar Junction Transistors with Avalanche Capability
The filing describes a high-power wide-band-gap MOSFET-gated bipolar junction transistor arrangement: a first wide-band-gap BJT with its own collector, emitter and base; a wide-band-gap MOSFET whose source feeds current into that base; and a second wide-band-gap BJT wired so its collector, emitter and base tie directly to the first BJT's corresponding terminals.Granted to Cree, Inc. in 2013 — the structural lineage this claim set anchors is still cited by newer filings in the same corpus.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20180301537A1 | Semiconductor Device Having an Electrostatic Discharge Protection Structure | 39 |
| 2 | US20110012130A1 | High Breakdown Voltage Wide Band-Gap MOS-Gated Bipolar Junction Transistors with Avalanche Capability | 31 |
| 3 | US5708352A | A.C. Generator for vehicles | 22 |
| 4 | CN110518070A | 一种适用于单片集成的碳化硅LDMOS器件及其制造方法 | 18 |
| 5 | EP0657992A1 | Alternating current generator for motor vehicles | 16 |
| 6 | US8541787B2 | High breakdown voltage wide band-gap MOS-gated bipolar junction transistors with avalanche capability | 13 |
| 7 | EP0778662A1 | Alternating current generator for motor vehicles | 9 |
| 8 | US20220399442A1 | Methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices | 7 |
| 9 | US20250096794A1 | Semiconductor switch | 4 |
| 10 | US20170005183A1 | Trenched and implanted bipolar junction transistor | 4 |
Ranked by forward citations within the searched corpus; older filings accumulate citations simply by being older, so treat this as a map of influence rather than current market share.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern says
Three signals stand out once the raw counts are read against each other: a plateaued filing curve, a citation base anchored in older structural patents, and a technology mix skewed heavily toward the semiconductor-device core rather than the systems around it.
Growth has plateaued, not accelerated
The climb from 1 filing in 2017 to a peak of 10 in 2024 is uneven — the 2022 midpoint of 3 sits well below a straight-line path to that peak. Combined with several leading assignees showing zero filings in the latest tracked year, the pattern points to a field that established its core claims early and has not seen a fresh wave of entrants since.
Influence sits with structural, not incremental, claims
The most-cited record concerns an electrostatic-discharge protection structure, and the second-most-cited concerns a wide-band-gap MOS-gated bipolar transistor topology — both define specific device architectures rather than material or process tweaks. That is where later filers have had to route their claims.
Core device claims dwarf systems-integration claims
H01L and the newer H10D classification together account for the bulk of the corpus, while power-control and propulsion classes each sit at single digits. The device physics is heavily claimed; the systems layer that puts these devices into drivetrains and power supplies is comparatively open.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to silicon carbide mosfet miniaturization and integration, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the claim space is still open
Assignee activity in this corpus is thin at the top — several of the most prominent filers show zero activity in the latest tracked year — and collaborative filing between institutions is rare. The gaps sit less in the core device physics and more in how that physics connects to control and propulsion electronics.
Collaboration is the exception, not the rule
Only three co-assignee pairs appear across the whole dataset, and the strongest of them links a research institute with a university transfer office rather than two commercial competitors. Most filings in this space are single-assignee, which is unusual for a field this technically layered.
Several established filers have gone quiet
A number of the assignees with the deepest filing history in this corpus show zero filings in the most recent tracked year, including firms with prior activity in gallium-nitride and SiC power devices. That does not necessarily mean withdrawal — recent filings lag in publication — but it does mean the ranking table understates who is currently active.
US and Europe dominate the receiving offices
The United States leads with 24 records, Europe follows with 15, and China holds 8. WIPO PCT filings add another 6, meaning a meaningful share of applicants are still deciding where to pursue national phase — worth tracking for early signals of geographic strategy shifts.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Denso Corporation | 0 | — |
| Wolfspeed Semiconductor Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Infineon Technologies Austria AG | 0 | — |
| Paul Scherrer Institute | 0 | — |
| ZHANG QINGCHUN | 0 | — |
| ETH ZURICH ETH TRANSFER HG E43 49 | 0 | — |
| United Silicon Carbide, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The filing data points to a field with settled core claims and open systems-integration territory. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate clearance or identifying where to file next.
Clear the two anchor lineages
Before designing a monolithic SiC MOSFET structure, check both the electrostatic-discharge protection lineage and the Cree MOS-gated bipolar junction transistor lineage directly, since both anchor the most-cited claims in this corpus.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the quiet assignees
Several assignees with strong prior filing history show zero activity in the latest tracked year. Given an 18-month publication lag, confirm whether that reflects a real slowdown or filings still in the pipeline.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaScope a systems-integration claim
The control and propulsion classes around the core SiC MOSFET device physics remain thinly claimed. A claim drafted at that boundary has more room than one filed directly against the H01L core.
Draft and search a claim in EurekaFrequently asked questions
Cell density scaling refers to shrinking the repeating unit cell of a trench-gate or planar MOSFET structure so more current-carrying cells fit in the same die area, lowering on-resistance without increasing chip size. In this dataset it shows up mainly inside the H01L and H10D semiconductor-device classes rather than as its own separate IPC code. Filings in this area tend to claim specific trench geometry, gate-oxide placement or cell-pitch ratios rather than the scaling concept itself, so freedom-to-operate work has to look at the geometric claim language, not just the phrase 'cell density'.
The most-cited record in this corpus is a semiconductor device with an electrostatic-discharge protection structure, followed closely by a Cree-lineage wide-band-gap MOS-gated bipolar junction transistor filing with avalanche capability. Citation count inside a searched corpus tends to favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations, so treat these as markers of technical influence on the field rather than as evidence of current market leadership. Newer entrants should check both lineages directly rather than assuming a highly-cited older filing has lapsed in relevance.
The patent evidence shows monolithic integration architectures, particularly MOSFET-gated bipolar junction transistor structures, have existed since at least the early 2010s and continue to be cited by newer filings. However, filing volume across the whole dataset peaked at only 10 records in 2024, and momentum indicators for several assignees in the ranking show zero filings in the latest tracked year. That pattern reads as a technically established but not yet high-growth area — worth watching rather than treating as an emerging land grab.
The clearest under-claimed territory sits at the boundary between the semiconductor-device core (H01L, H10D) and the surrounding control and propulsion electronics (H02P, B60L, H02J), each of which carries only 7 records against 41 in the core class. Communications-adjacent integration, tagged under H04B, has just 3 records in the whole corpus. Co-assignee filing is also rare, with only 3 co-assignee pairs recorded, suggesting collaborative claims spanning research institutions and industry are largely unclaimed territory.
The United States leads as a receiving office with 24 records, followed by the European Patent Office at 15 and China at 8, with WIPO PCT filings at 6. That distribution points to the US and Europe as the primary venues for contesting claim scope in this specific integration niche, though China's growing share and Germany's and Austria's individual filings show the field is not confined to a single jurisdiction. Anyone doing a freedom-to-operate check should clear all four major venues rather than assuming US clearance is sufficient.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.