China’s leading manufacturer of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor gallium oxide materials and equipment, "BJMJ Semiconductor Material Technology Co., Ltd." announced that the 2-inch gallium oxide monocrystalline and epitaxial substrates developed by the company have successfully achieved commercial production.
BJMJ focuses on the manufacturing of gallium oxide single crystals, epitaxial substrates and high-frequency high-power devices, which are new ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor materials. It is the first company in China to industrialize semiconductor gallium oxide materials.
The founder and CEO of the company, Mr. Chen, is a Ph.D. in Engineering from Kyushu Synchrotron Optical Radiation Center, Saga University, Japan. He chose the direction of gallium oxide materials during his master's and doctoral studies in Japan. The team also includes PhDs or professors from the University of Tokyo, Kyushu University, and Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Semiconductor materials are located in the upstream of the semiconductor industry chain and have gone through three iterations, from the first generation of silicon, the second generation of gallium arsenide and indium arsenide to the third generation of silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Silicon has been widely used because of its good thermal conductivity, abundant natural reserves, and low price. However, due to the narrow band gap and low breakdown electric field of silicon, its application in the field of high-frequency and high-power devices is limited. As a result, the band gap is wider, the breakdown electric field is higher, the electron mobility is higher, and the radiation resistance is stronger, and the second and third generation materials suitable for high-frequency and high-power devices have begun to enter the market and be applied.
Gallium oxide is an ultra-wide band gap semiconductor material with excellent chemical and thermal stability, and has a wide range of application prospects in the field of high-temperature, high-power, and radiation-resistant electronic devices. In 2012, Japan first achieved a breakthrough in 2-inch gallium oxide materials. The breakdown field strength of gallium oxide was 3.2 times that of the third-generation semiconductor material silicon carbide, and the Balijia value of merit was about 10 times. The band gap of gallium oxide can reach 4.9-5.3eV, and the cost is only 1/8 of that of silicon carbide.
The gallium oxide materials produced by BJMJ will be used in new energy vehicles, automobile charging piles, industrial motors, solid-state energy conversion, national defense and military industries.
The semiconductor material industry requires a large amount of early investment, with high process requirements and difficult breakthroughs. The industry lacks talents and has high barriers to competition. Due to the difficulty of production, high technical barriers and late entry time, China's semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide, silicon, and gallium nitride lag behind international manufacturers. The localization rate of semiconductor materials is low, and the market is basically affected by countries such as Europe, America, Japan, and Taiwan. Monopolized by regional enterprises, the dependence on imports is strong.
In Japan, Flosfia invested by Kyoto University, NICT and Novel Crystal invested by Tamura are the leading gallium oxide suppliers. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) plans to provide financial support to private companies and universities dedicated to the development of a new generation of low-energy semiconductor materials "gallium oxide". It has invested more than 85.6 million US dollars to vigorously develop the gallium oxide materials and power semiconductor device industries in Japan. According to Fuji Keizai’s forecast, Japan’s domestic gallium oxide power semiconductor device market will reach 70 billion yen (approximately 4.2 billion yuan) in 2025 and grow exponentially year by year. Japan`s Mitsubishi Electric, Toyota, FUJIMI, Tamura, Denso, Guangbo and others have invested a lot of manpower and material resources into the gallium oxide circuit.
BJMJ believes that semiconductor gallium oxide materials will be an important opportunity for China's semiconductor materials to lead the industry, and demand is expected to explode in the next 5-10 years. At present, BJMJ is in the world's first echelon in the field of semiconductor gallium oxide materials, leading Europe and the United States for 3-5 years. It is expected to be close to the technological level of Japan in 2022 or 2023.
The main application field of semiconductor gallium oxide materials is high-power electronic devices, which coincide with the application scenarios of silicon carbide. Currently, there are SDTY, TKHD, TGJT and other companies in the market for semiconductor silicon carbide material manufacturers. The downstream application companies of semiconductor silicon carbide are relatively concentrated, including BYD, CRRC, and State Grid.