The third-generation semiconductor industry report (2): Silicon carbide is coming soon, and the inflection point of the industrial chain is approaching

core point

The change of substrate material marks the replacement of semiconductors. The third-generation semiconductor materials are gallium nitride GaN, silicon carbide SiC, zinc oxide ZnO, diamond C, etc., of which silicon carbide SiC and gallium nitride GaN are the main representatives. Silicon carbide SiC and gallium nitride GaN have better performance in terms of band gap, dielectric constant, thermal conductivity and maximum operating temperature. Leading companies in 5G communications, new energy vehicles, photovoltaics and other fields are gradually using third-generation semiconductors , it is expected to achieve full replacement when the cost falls.

From the perspective of the industry chain, the silicon carbide industry can be divided into three key links: substrate, epitaxy and device. Among them, substrates account for the highest value in the industry chain, close to 50%. The domestic and foreign markets are mainly occupied by SiC substrate manufacturers such as WolfSpeed, II-VI, and Shandong Tianyue. The value of epitaxy accounts for 23%. Leading companies in the domestic market include SiC epitaxy manufacturers such as Dongguan Tianyu and Han Tiancheng. The epitaxy link in foreign markets is mainly covered by substrate and IDM manufacturers. The value of devices accounts for 22%, and the domestic and foreign markets are mainly occupied by leading traditional power semiconductor manufacturers that deploy SiC devices.

Substrate: High production cost restricts the large-scale development of SiC in the short term, and large-scale size accelerates cost reduction, and the inflection point of the industry explosion is approaching. According to the difference of subsequent growth epitaxial layers, SiC substrates can be divided into semi-insulating substrates (SiC substrate + GaN epitaxy), which are mainly used in high-frequency demand fields such as 5G communications and satellites, and conductive substrates (SiC substrates). +SiC epitaxy), mainly used in high-voltage demand fields such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaic power generation. According to Yole data, the CAGR of the global semi-insulating + conductive substrate market is expected to exceed 30% in 2020-2025. However, due to the slow growth rate and low yield of SiC substrates, the cost of substrate preparation is too high, which restricts the large-scale development of the industry. At present, domestic and foreign companies are gradually developing SiC wafers from 6 inches to 8 inches while accelerating technology improvement. Large-scale size will accelerate cost reduction, and the industry is expected to usher in an explosive inflection point.

Epitaxy: Epitaxy technology is related to the final device performance, and there is an urgent need for breakthroughs in high-voltage technology. The most important parameters in epitaxy are thickness and doping concentration, which mainly depend on the different voltage levels during design. At present, in the field of medium and low voltage, epitaxy technology is relatively mature, mainly used in consumer, automotive electronics, new energy power generation and other fields, and in the field of high voltage, SiC products have stronger competitiveness, but the technology is still in the research and development stage.

Devices: SiC devices have obvious performance advantages, and domestic and foreign companies are emerging. Compared with silicon-based MOSFETs and IGBTs, SiC MOSFETs have more advantages in switching efficiency, loss, size, frequency, and volume. Compared with the same specification of SiCMOSFET and SiMOSFET, the volume can even be reduced by 1/10, and the on-resistance can be reduced to 1/200. Compared with the same specification of SiC-MOSFET and Si-IGBT, the energy loss is less than 1/4. Under the background that the performance of SiC products occupies a comprehensive advantage, various companies mainly based on traditional power manufacturers at home and abroad have begun to accelerate the deployment of SiC products, and the domestic and foreign markets will usher in a market pattern of co-existence. At present, although foreign companies have first-mover advantages in technology and production capacity, the development history of the SiC industry is relatively short, and the gap between domestic and foreign companies is relatively small. Under the background of high demand, domestic companies are expected to accelerate the realization of domestic substitution.

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