Semiconductor materials silicon-based and silicon carbide-based

Semiconductor materials silicon-based and silicon carbide-based – Cheersonic

In the field of power semiconductors, the main materials are silicon and silicon carbide, etc. First look at the silicon base.

The global semiconductor wafer industry has a high market concentration, mainly occupied by well-known companies from Japan, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, and other countries and regions. At present, the world’s top five semiconductor silicon wafer companies are relatively large, with a combined market share of 93%. Among them, Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical has a market share of 27.58%, Japan’s SUMCO has a market share of 24.33%, Germany’s Siltronic has a market share of 14.22%, Taiwan’s global wafer market has a market share of 16.28%, and South Korea’s SK Siltron has a market share of 10.16%. Compared with the top five semiconductor silicon wafer companies in the industry, the silicon industry group is smaller in scale, accounting for 2.18% of the global semiconductor wafer market share.

Semiconductor silicon wafer is the core material of chip manufacturing. Chip manufacturing companies have extremely high requirements for the quality of semiconductor silicon wafers, and are very cautious in the selection of suppliers. According to industry practice, chip manufacturers need to certify semiconductor silicon wafer products before they can be included in the supply chain. Once the certification is passed, chip manufacturers will not easily change suppliers.

Semiconductor chips can be mainly divided into four categories: integrated circuits, discrete devices, sensors and optoelectronic devices. Among them, integrated circuits can be subdivided into memory, analog chips, logic chips and microprocessors. Analog chips can be further subdivided into power devices, amplifiers, filters, feedback circuits, reference source circuits, switched capacitor circuits and other products. The RF front-end chip is a kind of analog chip, which is a module that integrates various types of analog chips.

The larger the size of the semiconductor wafer, the higher the requirements for the production technology, equipment, materials and processes of the semiconductor wafer. At present, the mainstream products in the global market are 200mm (8 inches) and 300mm (12 inches) diameter semiconductor wafers, and the equipment investment in the downstream chip manufacturing industry also matches the 200mm and 300mm specifications. Considering that most of the 200mm and below chip manufacturing production lines were put into operation earlier, and most of the equipment has been depreciated, the chip manufacturing cost corresponding to 200mm and below semiconductor silicon wafers is often lower, and in some fields, 200mm and below semiconductor silicon wafers are used. The overall cost may not be higher than 300mm semiconductor wafers. In addition, in terms of special products such as high-precision analog circuits, RF front-end chips, embedded memories, CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensors, and high-voltage MOS, the manufacturing process of chips of 200mm and below is more mature. In summary, the demand for semiconductor wafers of 200mm and below still exists. Driven by applications such as automotive electronics and industrial electronics, the demand for 200mm semiconductor wafers is on the rise. At present, in addition to the above-mentioned special products, the demand for semiconductor silicon wafers of 200mm and below mainly comes from power devices, power managers, non-volatile memory, MEMS, display driver chips and fingerprint identification chips, etc. The terminal application field is mainly mobile communication. , automotive electronics, Internet of Things, industrial electronics, etc.

Next, we look at the silicon carbide substrate.

Silicon carbide substrate is the core material of the newly developed wide-bandgap semiconductor. Significantly reduce product power consumption, improve energy conversion efficiency and reduce product volume. At present, silicon carbide semiconductors are mainly used in the radio frequency field represented by 5G communication, national defense and military industry, aerospace, and the power electronics field represented by new energy vehicles and “new infrastructure”. market expectation. Therefore, the wide bandgap semiconductor represented by silicon carbide is a strategic industry facing the main economic battlefield and the country’s major needs.

At present, the downstream industry has developed a new generation of semiconductor devices by using the advantages of silicon carbide in high voltage, high temperature, high power, high frequency, etc. The downstream applications of silicon carbide substrates are mainly radio frequency devices and power devices, and their downstream applications are developing well. . It has been rapidly applied in the fields of 5G base station construction, radio detection, new energy vehicles and charging piles, and will expand its application in photovoltaic new energy, rail transit, smart grid and other industries.

Silicon carbide has obvious advantages in the manufacture of radio frequency devices, power devices and other fields. However, in the field of radio frequency devices and power devices, the market application bottleneck of silicon carbide substrates is its high production cost. The restrictive factors affecting the cost of silicon carbide substrates are slow production rate and low product yield, mainly due to: the current mainstream commercial PVT method has slow crystal growth and difficult defect control. Compared with the mature silicon wafer manufacturing process, silicon carbide substrates are still relatively expensive in the short term.

For example, the current price of silicon carbide power devices is still several times that of silicon-based devices, and downstream applications still need to balance the relationship between the high price of silicon carbide devices and the overall cost reduction due to the superior performance of silicon carbide devices. In the short term To a certain extent, the penetration rate of silicon carbide devices is limited, so that even in some relatively advantageous fields, the feasibility and expected progress of cost reduction, sales promotion, and expected progress of silicon carbide materials still have great challenges, resulting in the overall industry development not meeting expectations. adversely affect the issuer’s operations. The raw materials required for the company’s production mainly include carbon powder and silicon powder and other main materials and graphite parts, graphite felt, polishing liquid, diamond powder and other auxiliary materials. The production equipment mainly includes crystal growth furnace, cutting and grinding equipment, etc.

Source Yao Donglai Semiconductor Industry Observation

Cheersonic is the leading developer and manufacturer of ultrasonic coating systems for applying precise, thin film coatings to protect, strengthen or smooth surfaces on parts and components for the microelectronics/electronics, alternative energy, medical and industrial markets, including specialized glass applications in construction and automotive.