Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers
Wolfspeed, Inc. is an American developer and producer of extensive-bandgap semiconductors, focused on silicon carbide and gallium nitride materials and devices for energy and radio frequency purposes equivalent to transportation, energy provides, power inverters, and wireless methods. Cree Research was based in July 1987 in Durham, North Carolina. 5 of the six founders - Neal Hunter, Thomas Coleman, John Edmond, Eric Hunter, John Palmour, and Calvin Carter - are graduates of North Carolina State College. In 1983, the founders - one a research assistant professor and the others pupil researchers - were seeking ways to leverage the properties of silicon carbide to allow semiconductors to function at increased working temperatures and EcoLight energy ranges. Additionally they knew silicon carbide may serve as the diode in gentle-emitting diode (LED) lighting, EcoLight lighting a gentle supply first demonstrated in 1907 with an electrically charged diode of silicon carbide. The research crew devised a approach to develop silicon crystals within the laboratory, and in 1987 founded the corporate to produce silicon carbide for use commercially in each semiconductors and lighting.
In 1989, the company launched the first blue LED, enabling the development of massive, full-shade video screens and billboards. In 1991, the company launched the first commercial silicon carbide wafer. In 1993, the company became a public company by way of an initial public offering. In 2011, the company acquired Ruud Lighting for $525 million. In August 2011, the company introduced the XLamp XT-E Royal Blue LED for use in remote phosphor EcoLight energy lighting. In 2013, the corporate's first consumer merchandise, two household LED bulbs, certified for Power Star score by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In July 2016, Infineon Applied sciences agreed to acquire the corporate's Wolfspeed RF and energy electronics gadgets unit for $850 million. However, the deal was terminated in February 2017 as a consequence of regulators’ national security considerations. In March 2018, the corporate acquired the RF Power Enterprise Infineon Applied sciences AG's for €345 million. In Could 2019, the corporate sold its Lighting Merchandise division (now branded as Cree Lighting) to Ultimate Industries.
In September 2019, the corporate announced a $1 billion funding in a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Marcy, New York to construct the world’s largest silicon carbide fabrication facility with a $500 million grant from New York State. In March 2021, the company offered its LED Enterprise to Good International Holdings for up to $300 million. In October 2021, the corporate modified its name to Wolfspeed. In April 2022, the Marcy, New York, facility opened. In November 2022, the corporate introduced that co-founder and Chief Technology Officer John Palmour had died. In February 2023 it introduced it might build its first European manufacturing facility in Germany. It is imagined to be on the site of a former coal plant in Ensdorf, Saarland with ZF Friedrichshafen as a coinvestor and subsidized by the EU as an necessary mission of frequent European interest (IPCEI) for Microelectronics and Communication Applied sciences. In August 2023, it was introduced the Lowell-headquartered semiconductor company, MACOM had entered into a definitive settlement to accumulate Wolfspeed's RF business.
In June 2024, Wolfspeed has delayed its $3 billion semiconductor plant in Germany to mid-2025, reflecting the EU's challenges in boosting local chip manufacturing. Wolfspeed announced the undertaking's indefinite hold in October 2024, EcoLight energy citing low demand. As a result, ZF ceased to take part in the project. In October 2024, the Biden Administration announced that it would offer Wolfspeed with as much as $750 million in direct funding to support the company's new silicon carbide manufacturing facility in North Carolina that makes the wafers utilized in superior pc chips and its manufacturing unit in Marcy, New York. On Might 20, 2025, it was reported that Wolfspeed was getting ready to file for Chapter eleven bankruptcy inside the coming weeks after warning that it could also be unable to continue future operations after decrease than anticipated annual gross sales have been reported. Wolfspeed's stock slid to barely over a dollar per share that day. On June 18, 2025, Wolfspeed announced that they might promote itself to Apollo Global Management in a deal that would put the corporate right into a prepackaged Chapter eleven bankruptcy filing, which would enable for the elimination of the majority of its multi-billion dollar debt.
Wolfspeed entered into a restructuring help settlement with its lenders and Renesas Electronics, and EcoLight energy introduced that they might file for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy by July 1, as a part of a plan to remove $4.6 billion of debt, LED bulbs for home stating they solely had about $1.1 billion left in money. The company can even obtain $275 million in financing backed by its lenders, with plans to finish restructuring by Q3 2025. After the announcement, Wolfspeed's stock fell 30%, sliding under $1 per share. On June 26, 2025, Wolfspeed started laying off staff from their manufacturing facility located in Racine, Wisconsin. On June 30, 2025, Wolfspeed filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy safety. On October 13, 2022, a amenities electrician was electrocuted on the Wolfspeed Analysis Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina. The incident sparked a state investigation into his demise as well as public concern for the company's poor work security record. State Department of Labor investigations into the corporate have uncovered 17 office security violations between 2012 and 2023, together with six critical violations.