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Don’t Kill the Golden Goose!

By Jenny C. Servo, Ph.D.

In July 2022 Congress passed the sweeping Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing Act[1] to ensure U.S. competitiveness and dominance in this critical technology. This need harkens back to the 1970’s when the same concern regarding U.S. competitiveness gave rise to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. However, the response today is different – in 2022, Congress is heading towards the potential lapse of the SBIR/STTR programs due to its inaction!

What is so unnerving is that Congress apparently doesn’t know the role that the SBIR/STTR programs have already played in strengthening the domestic semiconductor industry – through a small, SBIR-funded company called Arkansas Power Electronics International (APEI) which was acquired by Cree (NASDAQ: Cree) in 2015 and today is known as Wolfspeed.  The future of the semiconductor industry lies with wide band gap materials – SiC and GaN and Wolfspeed is the world leader.

SiC Wafer Market Share

2% 4% 5% 13% 14% 62%
  • Wolfspeed has long-term stable market share of >60%
  • Wolfspeed is recognized as a technology leader in the industry
  • Wolfspeed is leading supplier to world's largest power semiconductor IDMs
  • Wolfspeed continues to add materials capacity to maintain market leadership
  • Wolfspeed
  • II-VI
  • SiCrystal
  • SK Siltron
  • TankeBlue
  • Others

Source: Wolfspeed, pg 80.

At the time APEI was acquired in 2015, the Executive Vice President of Cree stated,

“Adding this expert team of innovators and portfolio of patents will enable us to further disrupt and expand the market,” said Frank Plastina, executive vice president, Cree Power and RF. “Extending our research and development capabilities with APEI, a leader in wide bandgap power R&D, will help us accelerate delivery of a full spectrum of SiC power modules to meet customer requirements for performance and cost.”[2]

Two days ago Wolfspeed announced a ”$5 Billion investment in Chatham County, largest in NC History”[3] to build a new semiconductor plant.

To put the role of the SBIR program in perspective here are a few data points. Arkansas Power Electronics International was founded in 1997 and between 2002 and 2015 received 59 Phase I and Phase II awards which included: 29 awards from the Department of Defense; 13 awards from the Department of Energy, 14 awards from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, one award from the Department of Transportation and one award from the National Science Foundation. This level of support for revolutionary technologies by the SBIR/STTR programs is necessary. To simply assume that providing multiple awards to a small business is a waste of tax-payer money or that this practice prevents other companies from winning SBIR/STTR awards is simply false.  

This is one of the many SBIR/STTR successes that goes unheralded as federal agencies lack sufficient funding and tools to track the success of SBIR/STTR awardees over an extended timeframe.  Since 1982, many successful technologies funded though the SBIR/STTR programs have enhanced U.S. competitiveness, created jobs, and commercialized new products. Congress needs to take appropriate measures immediately to keep the SBIR/STTR programs in place. To let this program lapse will hinder U.S. competitiveness – which is the reason the SBIR program was initially created [4] and should be allowed to flourish!

[1] H.R. 6359 – Investing in Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing Act

[2] Wolfspeed. “Cree Acquires APEI (Arkansas Power Electronics International, Inc.”  July 09, 2015.

[3] WRAL News. Wolfspeed announces $5 billion investment in Chatham County, largest in NC history”, September 9, 2022.

[4]  Public Law 97-219 – July 22, 1982.

Jenny C. Servo, Ph.D. is the President and Founder of Dawnbreaker, a woman-owned small business located in Rochester, NY which has provided commercialization assistance to SBIR/STTR awardees since 1990.

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Fusion Energy Overview

Fusion is a potential energy source and occurs when one or more lighter elements combine to form a heavier element, releasing energy in the process. [1] Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. [2]   A future fusion plant could use the heat produced by the fusion reaction to produce steam to drive turbines or generators that produce electricity. [3] For almost a century, scientists around the globe have been looking to recreate and harness the power of fusion energy. [4]  

Tokamak
Source: ITER

There are two commonly pursued technologies to create and control plasma. Magnetic confinement uses strong magnets to contain plasma. A widely used configuration known as a tokamak[5] uses powerful magnets to confine the plasma within a toroidal reaction vessel, with the magnetic fields keeping the plasma away from the walls of the vessel to prevent damage and unintended cooling of the plasma.[6]  

Examples of U.S. companies developing magnetic confinement systems are Commonwealth Fusion Systems, TAE Technologies, Tokamak Energy, Helion Energy, and Thea Energy. Inertial confinement uses high-power lasers or electrical discharges to compress a small capsule of fusion fuel to extreme temperatures and pressures for a short time. This approach is used, for example, in the National Ignition Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [7] Examples of U.S. companies developing inertial confinement systems are Xcimer Energy, Focused Energy, ZAP Energy, and Shine Technologies. In addition to these methods, several companies such as General Fusion,  are pursuing various other pathways to try to create and control fusion reactions, including a hybrid of both magnetic and inertial confinement approaches. [8]

Various fusion fuels are used to power these pursued pathways. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, once developed, first-generation fusion plants may likely use a combination of abundant deuterium and lithium as fuel. [9] Deuterium, lithium and tritium Deuterium-tritium is a highly studied fusion fuel and a likely basis for the first fusion power plants.[10] Lithium is a critical resource for fusion because of its material properties. Lithium is used to breed tritium, the key fuel for fusion. [11] The rare lithium-6 form of the metal, which makes up only 7.5 per cent of all naturally occurring lithium, is the most efficient for sustaining the fusion process. [12] Li-6 is banned in the U.S. because of the harmful mercury waste it generates. [13] So most fusion power concepts rely on “enriched” lithium, where the Li-6 content has been boosted. [14]

Several companies are investing in efforts aimed at commercializing fusion energy. [15] Many of these companies are startups that have raised over $100 million in the past few years. [16]  The global fusion energy market size is projected to reach $611.8 billion by 2034, expanding at a CAGR of 5.56% from 2025 to 2034. [17] 

Current State - Projections of the time to putting Fusion Energy on the Grid

As of October 2025, fusion reactors remain pre-commercial, with no system yet producing net energy. Fusion energy stakeholders provide varying timelines as to when fusion energy will become technically feasible as an energy source for the electrical grid and when it will become commercially viable.  Projections range from 10 years to several decades in the future. [18]   Some companies are claiming that they will achieve commercial fusion energy in the next few years[19] while other stakeholders and experts said fusion energy will take more than 20 years. The Fusion Industry Association reported that many commercial companies predict fusion industry will be commercially viable in the 2030’s time frame. [19] 

Source: The Global Fusion Industry in 2025—Fusion Industry Association

Other stakeholders and experts believe fusion energy might put electricity on the grid in 10 to 20 years, however, significant resources are required to do so.[20] The Figure below illustrates commercialization risks that fusion energy will face on the road to commercial deployment. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the aspirational timeline as shown is strongly dependent on the level of both public and private investments. [21]

Commercialization risks for fusion

Source. U.S. Department of Energy, Fusion Energy Strategy 2024

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