01 What is third-generation semiconductor?
The third-generation semiconductors, represented by silicon carbide and gallium nitride, can be applied in the fields of higher-order high-voltage power components and high-frequency communication components. Main applications include high-temperature, high-frequency, radiation-resistant, and high-power devices; blue, green, and violet light-emitting diodes, semiconductor lasers, and superior electron mobility, bandgap, breakdown voltage, high-frequency, and high-temperature characteristics.
02 Classification of third-generation semiconductors
Although silicon carbide and gallium nitride are both third-generation semiconductor materials, their applications differ slightly. Gallium nitride is primarily used in medium-voltage products, around 600 volts, with some overlapping with the silicon material market. However, gallium nitride exhibits excellent mobility, making it suitable for high-frequency products. This characteristic gives it a significant advantage in high-speed products such as base stations and 5G;
Silicon carbide, on the other hand, can be used in products with higher voltage, such as those operating at thousands of volts, including those for electric vehicles, high-speed trains, or industrial applications. It exhibits excellent high-temperature and high-voltage resistance characteristics.
For this reason, taking silicon carbide wafers as an example, the market is more optimistic about its application in the automotive market, including charging stations, new energy vehicles, and motor drive systems.
03 Current market status of silicon carbide materials
Currently, the SiC wafer (including SiC for lighting) market is primarily dominated by the United States, Europe, and Japan. In 2018, Cree accounted for over 62% of the market share, and when combined with II-VI and Si-Crystal, the market share reached 90%. Therefore, at present, manufacturers from the United States, Europe, and Japan are relatively leading in the global silicon carbide industry, with American manufacturers occupying a dominant position. This does not mean that domestic companies are surpassing others in a curve, as others are also performing well.
04 Silicon carbide industry chain
In terms of manufacturing processes, most equipment differs from traditional silicon production lines. However, due to the high hardness and other characteristics of silicon carbide, some special production equipment is required, such as high-temperature ion implanters, carbon film sputtering instruments, and mass-production high-temperature annealing furnaces. The availability of a high-temperature ion implanter is an important criterion for evaluating a silicon carbide production line.
The value chain of SiC devices can be divided into substrate - epitaxy - cell - device, with the substrate accounting for the highest cost at 50%. The main reason is that the growth of single crystals is slow and the quality is not stable enough, which also makes SiC expensive and not widely promoted.
Semi-conductive SiC substrates are primarily n-type substrates, mainly used for epitaxial growth of optoelectronic devices such as GaN-based LEDs and SiC-based power electronic devices. Semi-insulating SiC substrates are mainly used for epitaxial growth to manufacture GaN high-power radio frequency devices.
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Therefore, when searching for relevant equipment manufacturers, more attention should be paid to enterprises that possess substrate production capabilities and high-position ion implanters. Because producing one silicon carbide wafer is not difficult; the difficulty lies in how to scale up from one wafer to one hundred, or even more