Recently, the world's highest weight class and the largest single-body artificial sapphire crystal was born in the production workshop of Inner Mongolia Jinghuan Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. The 450 kg weight class has increased the previous 350 kg class world record held by Russia by 100 kg. This result of the Jinghuan Electronics R & D team has once again proved to the world that "the enterprise is an important subject of technological innovation". The birth of this new core technology has also quietly changed the status quo and international competitiveness of China's artificial gem production industry. .
Sapphire manufacturing grows in adversity
Speaking of gemstones, people must first think of jewellery and jewelry. In fact, as an important raw material in the field of high-tech production, artificial sapphire has long been integrated into people's daily life. As small as a smartphone camera, touch screen, LED light, as large as a country, high-intensity laser, optical components of astronomical observation systems, artificial sapphire is everywhere.
Since the new century, when the demand and output value of the original sapphire in developed countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, and Japan have reached astronomical figures, China's sapphire manufacturing industry has just begun.
In 2000, China began to carry out all-round development of sapphire growth technology. Although the products manufactured based on the temperature gradient method can fully meet the requirements of the military and optoelectronic industries in terms of quality, they have not been able to leave the laboratory for a long time in terms of mass production. It wasn't until 10 years later that good news came.
In April 2011, QDJJ Electric Technology Co., Ltd.'s LED sapphire substrate wafer project was formally put into production, and the production capacity expanded to 1.8 million pieces within three years, marking that China's LED sapphire wafers broke the foreign technology blockade and formed large-scale production.
In June of the same year, a hundred kilogram artificial sapphire crystal was born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, making the supply of high-quality materials for the fast-growing LED industry in China a reality, breaking the passive situation in which China's sapphire crystal growth and the substrate manufacturing market have long relied on imports.
In April 2016, the first artificially-made 120 kg sapphire crystal was launched in the “Optical Valley” in Nanchang, marking the official birth of a sapphire touch screen made locally in the Jiangxi smartphone industry. At the time, Zhang Zhenzhi, the chief engineer of the R & D project, proudly said, "We supply the lens cover and home button of Apple mobile phones. In addition to the field of optical applications, we will also pay attention to electronic applications such as smartphone panels."
This series of news is enough to inspire Chinese people. However, from a fundamental point of view, the "Made in China" of sapphire has not completely out of adversity: the production equipment and production technology of products still rely heavily on imports, resulting in a lack of voice in production costs and product prices; more important Yes, China's production capacity and product size are not yet able to meet the comprehensive needs of national defense technology and national heavy machinery.
In early 2017, Russia proudly announced to the world that the world's largest, 350 kg artificial sapphire was born in the country.
"After all, we lack the right to speak internationally in the industry because of the lack of core production technologies, a set of production technologies that are entirely our own!" Said Zhang Jun, general manager of Jinghuan Electronics.
Spar Big Fights for International Discourse
In the production workshop of Inner Mongolia Jinghuan Electronics Co., Ltd., an artificial sapphire weighing 450 kilograms stands in front of the display case, which is transparent and free of air bubbles. With the touch of your hand, you can also feel the residual temperature just released. Ouyang Penggen, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of Jinghuan Electronics, told the reporter of Science and Technology Daily: "This is currently the world's highest weight and largest monomer artificial sapphire, based on the bubble production method."
The soaking method is the mainstream method of producing artificial sapphire in the world at present, and it is also the most important production technology of countries in the world dedicated to technical research and increasing investment in technology research and development. The principle is to first heat the alumina raw material to the melting point to form a molten soup, and then contact the seed crystal rod with the surface of the molten soup. At the solid-liquid interface between the seed crystal rod and the molten soup, a single crystal with the same crystal structure as the seed crystal is grown The seed crystal is pulled up at a very slow speed and finally solidifies into a single crystal.
"This is a relatively long production process. The control of the furnace temperature and the coordinated application of the production system have extremely high tests and extremely demanding requirements. Therefore, the production of 450 kg-class products and
The technical requirements for the production of 200 kg and 350 kg products are not at a level and there are qualitative differences. Ouyang Penggen said.
After the mass production of 100kg and 250kg artificial sapphire, the crystal ring electronics research and development team led by Ouyang Penggen did not stop innovation. In 2017, Jinghuan Electronics' 300kg sapphire reached production conditions shortly. The 350kg world record of Mono Crystal in Russia stimulated Ouyang Penggen's R & D team: "One is to compete with them and bite them; the other is us The domestic industry and enterprises themselves indeed have great thirst for new core technologies, and this is the biggest motivation for our research and development! "
Therefore, the "bubble method full automatic sapphire crystal growth technology and ultra-large size sapphire crystal growth technology" were gradually formed in the crystal ring electronics laboratory. Zhang Jun, general manager of the company, introduced to reporters: "Our core technology is self-developed automated production equipment, thermal production design theory and micro-process applications, that is, the selection, processing, and production of raw materials are all made in China. The birth of an artificial sapphire jumbo will gradually change the production order of the world's artificial spar industry, and we will have the right to speak internationally accordingly! "
New technology will open a new situation in the industry
In recent years, the LED industry has developed rapidly worldwide. Its products are widely used in the field of lighting and blue lasers, especially in the field of liquid crystal displays. The market has expanded rapidly, and almost 100% of notebook computers and more than 50% of LCD TVs have LED products in application. The growth of artificial sapphire crystals and the manufacturing of substrates are at the forefront of the LED industry chain, which is the link with the largest investment and the highest technical barriers in the industry. "It is also the section with the highest added value, as long as you have your own core technology!" Zhang Jun said.
Zhang Jun said that due to China ’s long-term and large-scale dependence on imported production equipment and production technology, China ’s initiative to dominate and influence international commodity prices has not been controlled by China. Therefore, domestic production enterprises have been greatly suppressed, and the industry is thriving. At the same time, a lot of profits were given overseas.
As the leader of the company's research and development team, Ouyang Penggen told the reporter of the Science and Technology Daily: "Science and technology enterprises have no other choice but to rely on technology to achieve cost reduction and profit. The trial production of giant artificial sapphire was successful. "It is not only expressed in size, but also in quality. Our new product can be applied to LEDs with an effective length of 4 inches ingots of more than 4550 mm. This standard is derived from such large size spar, which is the best proof."
The reporter learned that due to the increasingly high technical threshold, domestic sapphire production enterprises are also facing the process of reshuffle of the fittest. Most of the previous hundreds of companies have now stopped production or switched production. This is an inevitable requirement of the market, and it is even higher. The result of sophisticated technology.
At present, Jinghuan Electronics is working on the mass production of super-large spar. Ouyang Penggen said: "For enterprises, our new technology can achieve a new production situation where the input volume is increased by 2.5 times, other costs remain the same, and the output is increased by 5 times. For the country, the autonomy of super-large spar R & D and production, whether in the civilian or military field, will give it the largest and most secure guarantee. "