As a typical representative of the third generation semiconductor materials, silicon carbide is favored by power devices due to its higher conversion efficiency, operating high voltage and switching frequency. According to Yole, a market research agency, the silicon carbide semiconductor market will reach USD 2 billion in 2024. At present, China is advancing the "new infrastructure" in 5G, data centers, new energy vehicles and other fields, which provides a broad market prospect for silicon carbide.
"New infrastructure" brings new markets
Compared with silicon materials, silicon carbide can achieve higher operating voltage, higher power density and greater switching frequency, enabling devices to achieve higher conversion efficiency and better heat dissipation performance. Zhu Shaoxin, deputy director of CCID think tank integrated circuit research institute, told reporters that silicon carbide materials have the characteristics of high pressure resistance, high temperature resistance, low loss, fast switching speed, etc. The SBD diodes and MOSFET switches are made of silicon materials. The developed FRD diode and MOSFET switch tube have better performance, and have achieved large-scale application in the field of photovoltaic inverters, new energy vehicles, charging piles, and frequency conversion home appliances, and have very strong promotion prospects.
The new infrastructure focuses on digital infrastructure and will strongly support the innovative development of high and new technologies, bringing broad market opportunities for silicon carbide.
Chen Tong, chairman of TKTR, the leader of China's silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, told reporters that the information infrastructures concerned by the new infrastructure are mostly large consumers of electricity, which put forward higher requirements for the demand and quality of electricity. The optimization of power consumption structure, including high and low voltage conversion, AC / DC conversion, and frequency conversion of power distribution and utilization links, all rely on power semiconductors as the underlying technology. As a new generation of semiconductor materials, silicon carbide has higher power conversion efficiency, and will more efficiently meet the power demand of new infrastructure.
"Silicon carbide improves the efficiency and quality of electricity conversion. Compared with silicon, silicon carbide can improve the efficiency of electricity consumption by two to three percentage points, with higher reliability, and the volume and weight of the device are smaller. Play a greater role in optimization. "Chen Tong said.
Specifically, the 5G, data center, new energy vehicle and other industries involved in the new infrastructure are the target markets for silicon carbide.
Chen Qingyuan, senior market manager of switching power supply applications in the Greater China region of Infineon ’s Power and Sensing System Division, pointed out to reporters that 5G small base stations have a wide operating temperature range (-45 ° C to 80 ° C) for power supplies, high reliability, and high density demand. Compared with silicon devices, silicon carbide devices have a higher heat dissipation coefficient and are more suitable for the deployment of 5G small base stations.
Zhu Shaoxin said that the ultra-high voltage, new energy vehicle charging piles, data centers, etc., which are concerned by the new infrastructure, have brought development opportunities for silicon carbide. In particular, data center requirements for energy consumption continue to increase, and it is more likely to use silicon carbide devices in power supplies on a large scale. The high-end power supplies used in data centers are likely to become the next incremental market for silicon carbide.
Feng Gan, general manager of XMHT, told reporters that silicon carbide has advantages in high-power power electronic devices. Most projects concerned by the new infrastructure are related to the layout direction of silicon carbide, which is a benefit to the silicon carbide industry. Especially in the field of new energy vehicles and charging piles, the growth rate of silicon carbide is considerable. Silicon carbide practitioners are very concerned about the role of re-energy vehicles in the silicon carbide industry.
Dialectical view of the "expensive" of silicon carbide
Compared with silicon, silicon carbide has better physical characteristics in high-power electronic power devices. However, the cost of silicon carbide wafers is relatively high, and the price-performance ratio is not as good as that of silicon. In this regard, the person in charge of the relevant enterprise said that it is necessary to dialectically view the cost and development potential of silicon carbide.
Feng Gan said that the cost of silicon carbide should be viewed from three levels. At the material level, silicon carbide wafers and epitaxial wafers are indeed more expensive than silicon, or even 100 times more expensive. But at the device level, the price of a single die may be only three to five times that of a silicon carbide device of the same specification compared to a silicon device. This is because the size of silicon carbide on a wafer can be made very small, and the average cost of each device will be reduced.
"As the yield increases, more silicon carbide devices can be cut on a wafer. In recent years, the cost of silicon carbide devices is expected to be controlled to a level that is competitive with silicon devices, even more than silicon devices. It's cheap, "Feng Gan said. At the same time, at the system level, that is, in terminal applications such as inverters, power supplies, and electric vehicles, the use of silicon carbide devices can reduce system costs such as capacitance, inductance, and cooling and achieve better performance.
Chen Tong said that to further explore the cost of silicon carbide, a sufficiently large consumer market is needed. Silicon has been developing for 30 to 50 years, and silicon carbide only went to the civilian market around 2010. It has a market scale of several billion yuan, and the development rate is not slow.
"Upstream suppliers expand production and spread the cost to make them more attractive for downstream end applications; at the same time, the application scale of the downstream market is large enough and the purchase price is sufficient enough for upstream suppliers to expand production; this is a The problem of eggs and eggs and chickens is also a gradual process. "Chen Tong said.
Chinese companies should do well in market segmentation
The silicon carbide industrial chain is mainly divided into upstream substrates, midstream epitaxy, and downstream devices. At present, Chinese enterprises have layouts in the upper, middle and lower reaches of silicon carbide, but there is still a gap between the market share and international leading companies such as Cree.
Cree, as a pioneer of silicon carbide, has absolute advantages in substrates, epitaxy, and devices. Feng Gan pointed out that Cree's advantages stem from first-mover advantage and continuous technical investment. On the one hand, Cree is one of the earliest silicon carbide enterprises, gathering and nurturing the first batch of talents in the silicon carbide industry; on the other hand, as the first batch of enterprises engaged in the industrialization of silicon carbide, Cree can obtain income and support The continuous capital investment in cutting-edge technology has formed a technological advantage.
The industrial characteristics of silicon carbide itself also increase the difficulty for latecomers to challenge Cree's leading position. Feng Gan said that the terminal area targeted by silicon carbide is high-power power electronic devices, focusing on product reliability and safety, with higher technical thresholds and longer certification cycles. This means that it is more difficult for the terminal enterprise to change suppliers to face the re-certification of products.
However, silicon carbide is still in the early stages of market deployment, and domestic and international companies have not yet entered large-scale mass production and commercial use. Chen Tong said that it is more difficult for the power semiconductor companies that come later to use the mature technology to catch up with the more technologically advanced companies. For a latecomer company to grow, there must be a window period for the iteration of new and old technologies.
"Silicon carbide is a new industrial opportunity, giving Chinese power semiconductor companies the opportunity to participate in international competition. When new technologies emerge, our response should be faster." Chen Tong said.
How should Chinese enterprises seize the development opportunities of silicon carbide? Zhu Shaoxin said that domestic enterprises need to exercise their internal strengths, take the real needs of domestic customers as a premise, polish products and technologies, and not rigidly benchmark foreign development paths, let alone In the absence of a clear customer, the capacity was expanded prematurely.
"Improving the performance indicators required by customers is more important and urgent than directly expanding production lines." Zhu Shaoxin said.
In terms of development mode, Feng Gan believes that domestic enterprises should not blindly pursue the development mode of Cree's involvement in all links of the industrial chain. This mode is not necessarily suitable for the current development stage of silicon carbide. Substrate companies should focus on substrates, epitaxial companies focus on epitaxy, and device companies focus on devices, which will be more conducive to forming a competitive advantage.
"The development model that lengthens the industry chain is only suitable for the early stage of the market. Focusing on its own subdivision areas and increasing the scale will reduce costs and increase competitiveness." Feng Gan said.