On December 16th, the Sino-German Joint Research Institute for the Third Generation Semiconductor Materials signed a project in Xi'an. This project technology can stably produce 4 inch and 6 inch SiC single crystal wafers with a high success rate. The future development direction is to prepare large-scale SiC single crystals for batch production mature technology and cutting-edge semiconductor technology.
The third-generation semiconductor materials project gradually landed
Not long ago, Zhejiang's first third-generation semiconductor material project settled in Ningbo. Huada Semiconductor completed the signing of a wide band gap semiconductor material project, with a total investment of 1.05 billion yuan, with an annual output of 80,000 4-6 inch silicon carbide substrates And epitaxial wafers, silicon carbide-based gallium nitride epitaxial wafers, the products can be widely used in 5G communications, new energy vehicles, rail transit, smart grid and other fields.
In September 2019, the headquarter base of the Silicon Carbide Project of Zhongke Steel Research was settled in Shanghai, empowering the third-generation semiconductor materials, and striving to use 3 to 5 years to build Guohong Zhongyu with its strategic partners to build Shanghai The headquarter base is a high-tech enterprise group with silicon carbide semiconductor materials as its representative and the third generation of semiconductor materials and their application technologies and products.
In August 2019, Huawei invested in Shandong Tianyue through Hubble Investment and obtained 10% of the shares. The core product of Shandong Tianyue is the third-generation semiconductor material silicon carbide. According to the company's official website, silicon carbide is known as the core material of the third generation of semiconductors, and has outstanding characteristics such as high voltage and high frequency resistance. This investment may indicate Huawei's recognition of the prospects for third-generation semiconductor materials.
Silicon carbide is the third-generation semiconductor material closest to large-scale commercialization
Since the birth of semiconductors, semiconductor materials have been continuously upgraded. The first generation of semiconductor materials mainly refers to silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) semiconductor materials, which have been widely used in integrated circuits, computers, mobile phones, aerospace, various military engineering and other fields.
The second generation of semiconductor materials mainly refers to compound semiconductor materials (such as gallium arsenide), ternary compound semiconductors (such as GaAsAl), glass semiconductors (such as amorphous silicon), etc., which are mainly used to produce high-speed, high-frequency, high-power, and light-emitting electrons. Device is an excellent material for making high-performance microwave, millimeter-wave devices and light-emitting devices.
Compared with the first and second generation semiconductor materials, the third generation semiconductor material has a wider band gap width, higher breakdown electric field, higher thermal conductivity, greater electronic saturation, and higher Radiation resistance.
Silicon carbide (SiC) belongs to the third generation of semiconductor materials and is currently the most mature wide-gap semiconductor material. Countries around the world attach great importance to the research of SiC, and have invested a lot of manpower and materials to actively develop it. The United States, Europe, and Japan have not only developed from Corresponding research plans have been formulated at the national level, and some international electronics giants have also invested heavily in the development of silicon carbide semiconductor devices.
Europe and the United States occupy key positions in the industrial chain
The SiC production process is divided into three major steps: SiC single crystal growth, epitaxial layer growth, and device manufacturing, corresponding to the three major links of the industrial chain substrate, epitaxy, devices, and modules.
The global SiC industry pattern shows the three-legged situation of the United States, Europe and Japan. Among them, the United States is the world's largest. 70% -80% of global SiC production comes from American companies. Europe has a complete SiC substrate, epitaxial, device and application industry chain, and Japan is an absolute leader in equipment and module development.
Chinese companies also have more layouts in SiC, but most of them are in the early R & D stage, and the industry volume is relatively small. In terms of SiC substrates, Tianke Heda, Shandong Tianyue, Tongguang Crystal, etc. can all supply 3 inch-6 inch single crystal substrates; in terms of SiC epitaxial wafers, Xiamen Hantian Tiancheng and Dongguan Tianyu produce 3 inches-6 Inch SiC epitaxial wafer; In terms of foundry, Sanan Optoelectronics, a subsidiary of Sanan Optoelectronics, announced in December 2018 that it would launch the first domestic 6-inch SiC wafer foundry process, and all process qualification tests have been completed.
SiC will replace IGBT as the best choice for new energy vehicles
SiC devices are widely used in the field of power electronics. As one of the ideal materials for making high temperature, high frequency, high power, and high voltage devices, SiC has become an ideal choice to achieve the best performance of new energy vehicles. At present, the applications of SiC devices in new energy vehicles are mainly power control units, inverters, DC-DC converters, and car chargers.
Compared with IGBT, SiC is a more advanced power electronic chip used as a controller. Although the cost is 8-10 times that of IGBT, SiC can greatly increase the motor speed and thereby increase the specific power of the motor. While achieving high frequency and high efficiency, the volume is also very small, about 70-80% smaller than IGBT. In addition, SiC also has the advantage of high frequency but low loss, thereby increasing the efficiency of new energy vehicles by about 10%. This means that while the cruising range of electric vehicles has been improved, battery costs are likely to drop significantly.
Toyota has publicly stated that SiC has the same importance as gasoline engines. Since the 1980s, Toyota has been researching SiC, 30 years earlier than its international counterparts. In pursuit of only 5% increase in mileage, Tesla has taken the lead in the industry to fully adopt SiC instead of IGBT at a price several times more expensive. The controller of Model 3 is the SiC material used. BYD also announced that it will use SiC in all directions in 2023, and it is expected that IGBT will be fully replaced by SiC in 2025.
According to Yole's forecast, the SiC power device market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 31% from 2017 to 2023, and will exceed $ 1.5 billion in 2023. Cree, the leader in the SiC industry, will be more optimistic, and it is expected to reach 2022. SiC in the electric vehicle market space will rapidly grow to $ 2.4 billion, which is 342 times the overall automotive SiC revenue ($ 7 million) in 2017.
Many companies have deployed third-generation semiconductor materials
Luxiao Technology: In November this year, the company signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Zhongke Steel Research and Guohong Zhongyu for the silicon carbide project. It will customize about 200 silicon carbide growth furnaces and equipment for the silicon carbide industrialization project led by Guohong Zhongyu The total purchase amount is about 300 million yuan. In August, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Lucia Sapphire, signed a contract of 126 million yuan for a complete set of silicon carbide crystal growth equipment with Guohong Zhongyu.
Sanan Optoelectronics: mainly engaged in the research and development and application of compound semiconductor materials, focusing on new semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride and related fields. In March of this year, Sanan Optoelectronics, a subsidiary of Sanan Optoelectronics, and Midea Group reached a strategic cooperation. The two sides jointly established a third-generation semiconductor joint laboratory, which will introduce white appliances through research and development of third-generation semiconductor power devices to promote industrial innovation.
Hightech High-tech: has completed the development of 6 process products including gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, silicon carbide and indium phosphide, which can support the manufacture of power amplifiers, mixers, low-noise amplifiers, switches, and photoelectric detection Products such as transmitters, lasers, power electronics, etc. The products are widely used in 5G mobile communications, artificial intelligence, radar, automotive electronics and other fields. As of now, some of the company's products have achieved mass production, and the number of customers and orders has continued to increase.