A subsidiary of China Electronics Technology Group recently announced the successful development of silicon carbide (SIC) chips.
In recent years, hundreds of billions of Chinese funds have poured into the third-generation semiconductor materials. They hope to overtake around the corner and get a share of the huge 5g and electric vehicle market.
electric vehicle drives silicon carbide demand
In the last two years, under the trend of automobile electrification, silicon carbide material is becoming a new air outlet. In 2016, Tesla took the lead in adopting 24 silicon carbide MOSFET modules of STMicroelectronics on Model 3.
Subsequently, foreign auto companies such as Toyota and Volkswagen, Chinese auto companies such as Byd Company Limited(002594) , Weilai and others successively announced that they would adopt silicon carbide scheme. The SiC Power module will be used for the first time on the Weilai et7 model that Weilai is expected to deliver in March this year. Thus, et7 can achieve better 100m acceleration performance.
in the next few years, SiC market will benefit from vehicle electrification, 5g base station and data center construction. According to the estimate of trendforce Jibang consulting, a global science and technology research institution, the output value of class III power semiconductors (including SiC and gallium nitride GaN) will grow from US $980 million in 2021 to US $4.71 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 48%
The development of semiconductor materials has experienced three stages.
Before the 1990s, the development of computers led to the vigorous development of semiconductor materials dominated by germanium and silicon. At present, semiconductor devices and integrated circuits are still mainly made of silicon crystal materials.
Around 2000, with the rise of information superhighway based on optical communication, the second generation semiconductor materials represented by gallium arsenide and indium phosphide emerged.
In recent years, new energy vehicles have entered a high-speed development period. In mid February 2022, the sales volume of Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) vehicles increased by 184.3% year-on-year. In 2021, China Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) automobile sales increased by 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years
At the same time, silicon-based materials are basically approaching their physical limits, and there is an urgent need for new materials to replace them. The third generation semiconductor materials represented by gallium nitride and silicon carbide have excellent properties such as high breakdown electric field, high thermal conductivity, high electron saturation rate and strong radiation resistance. They are more suitable for making high-temperature, high-frequency, radiation resistance and high-power electronic devices. They are the “core” of solid-state light source, power electronics and microwave RF devices. They are used in semiconductor lighting, new generation mobile communication Energy Internet, high-speed rail transit, new energy vehicles, consumer electronics and other fields have broad application prospects.
a lot of money poured into the silicon carbide track
Zhu Hangou, senior analyst of jimicrogrid integrated circuit industry, introduced that foreign countries have studied the third generation semiconductor materials for thirty or forty years. Kerui company, an international benchmark enterprise of silicon carbide (now renamed wolfspeed), can supply 6-inch conductive and semi insulating silicon carbide substrates in batch, and has successfully developed and started to build an 8-inch product production line. China’s vigorous development of silicon carbide industry has been in the process of 6-inch mass production since seven or eight years ago.
Since 2018, a large number of silicon carbide industry related projects have emerged in China. According to the statistics of xinmou research, the total investment in 2018 was 5 billion, with a total of three projects. In 2019, the investment volume soared to 23.8 billion, and the number of projects reached 14.
In 2020, it is announced that the investment will exceed 50 billion in one fell swoop and there will be more than 20 projects. However, the actual production projects are extremely limited, and the actual capacity opening rate is not high. For example, as of August 2021, the total production capacity of silicon carbide device production line was announced to be 2.15 million pieces, and the actual production capacity was optimistically estimated to be 270000 pieces. Only a small number of production lines such as Sanan Optoelectronics Co.Ltd(600703) , Tyco Tianrun and Jita were successfully connected.
Founder Securities Co.Ltd(601901) electronic industry analyst LV Zhuoyang believes that the first mover advantage is the characteristic of the semiconductor industry. Compared with silicon-based materials, the industrialization time of silicon carbide in China is not much different from that of foreign manufacturers, and it is hopeful to catch up with the international level. In addition, SiC downstream applications are mostly in the R & D stage and have not yet formed mass production. Therefore, SiC is in the early stage of explosive growth, which is also the reason why a large amount of funds flow into the silicon carbide track. Relevant people believe that there is a technical gap of about five years between China and foreign countries at the end of silicon carbide substrate material.
Gong ruijiao, a semiconductor analyst at Jibang consulting, revealed that the most difficult step in manufacturing silicon carbide wafers is the substrate. Its crystal growth is slow and its quality is not stable enough. This is also the short board of Chinese enterprises. Silicon carbide substrate accounts for nearly 50% of the cost of silicon carbide wafer, which leads to the lack of competitiveness of silicon carbide materials in China.
leading enterprises achieved preliminary results
SiC industrial chain includes powder, substrate, epitaxy, design, manufacturing, sealing and testing, and related equipment. Representative enterprises include Tianyue advanced, Sanan Optoelectronics Co.Ltd(600703) , Tianke Heda, etc.
Tianyue advanced, which was listed in January this year, and Tianke Heda, which was delisted from the new third board, mainly involve SiC substrate. The main products of Tianyue advanced are semi insulating silicon carbide substrate products, and the sales amount and proportion of conductive silicon carbide substrate products are relatively small. Semi insulating silicon carbide substrate products are mainly used in the fields of new generation information communication, microwave and RF.
Statistics show that the funds raised by Tianyue advanced in this listing will be used for the expansion of silicon carbide substrate production, mainly for the production of 6-inch conductive silicon carbide substrate. After the project is completed, the production capacity of silicon carbide substrate will be increased by about 300000 pieces / year.
Tiankeheda is mainly engaged in the production of SiC substrates and epitaxial wafers. The company had planned to apply for Kechuang board, and then terminated.
The Sanan Optoelectronics Co.Ltd(600703) involving 100 billion market value involves the whole SiC industry chain. Sanan integrated, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, is made of epitaxial silicon carbide chips; Hunan San’an, a wholly-owned subsidiary, invested in the construction of R & D and industrialization projects of third-generation semiconductors including but not limited to silicon carbide and other compounds, including long crystal substrate fabrication epitaxial growth chip preparation packaging industrial chain. Among them, Hunan San’an plans to invest a total of 16 billion yuan. Last June, Hunan San’an phase I project was completed and successfully put into operation.
