The third generation semiconductor represented by silicon carbide has excellent properties such as high frequency, high efficiency, high output, high voltage resistance, high temperature resistance and strong radiation resistance. Many features meet the country's major strategic needs, such as energy conservation and emission reduction, intelligent manufacturing, information security and so on. They support the independent innovation, development, transformation and upgrading of a new generation of mobile communications, new energy vehicles, high-speed trains and other industries, and become the focus of global semiconductor technology and industrial competition.
Silicon carbide has obvious performance advantages.
Because the band gap width of silicon carbide is three times that of silicon, the leakage current of silicon carbide devices is obviously smaller than that of silicon devices, thus reducing power loss. Secondly, silicon carbide can withstand high voltage, and the breakdown electric field intensity is more than ten times that of silicon. Finally, silicon carbide can resist high temperature. Silicon carbide has higher thermal conductivity than silicon, which makes it easier to dissipate heat from equipment. But at present, the cost of various silicon carbide devices is 2.4-8 times that of silicon-based devices, among which the substrate cost and epitaxial cost are the highest, accounting for 47% and 23% respectively.
According to the global market pattern of silicon carbide substrates, CREE in the United States took the lead with 62% market share in 20 18, followed by II-VI in the United States, with a market share of about 16%. Generally speaking, American manufacturers dominate the silicon carbide market.
Electric vehicles promote the outbreak of silicon carbide market
Another important product of the third generation semiconductor, silicon carbide, will benefit from the rapid growth of the electric vehicle industry and usher in an explosion opportunity.
With the development of new energy vehicles, the demand for power semiconductor devices is increasing. The data shows that the average value of semiconductor devices in traditional fuel vehicles is $355, while in new energy vehicles, the value of semiconductor devices is $695, almost doubling. Among them, the growth of power devices is the most significant, from 17 to 265 dollars, and the growth rate is close to 15 times. At present, most power semiconductors used in new energy vehicles are silicon-based devices, such as silicon-based IGBT and silicon-based MOSFET. With the maturity of technology and products, the third generation semiconductor will gradually replace most silicon-based products, and the market demand for silicon carbide is increasing.
20 19 the third generation semiconductor power electronic equipment represented by silicon carbide has made rapid progress in the field of electric vehicles. More than 20 automobile manufacturers around the world use silicon carbide equipment in automobile chargers. Tesla Model 3 inverter adopts all-silicon carbide power module of ST microelectronics. Various automobile manufacturers plan to use silicon carbide power electronic devices in the main inverter in the next few years. In terms of charging infrastructure, Delta cooperated with General Motors to develop silicon carbide power semiconductor devices and applied them to a 400KW detachable fast reading charger. In terms of electric drive, Corey joined hands and reached a strategic cooperation agreement to promote the development of inverter electric drive powertrain based on silicon carbide.
Application of Silicon Carbide in Photovoltaic Industry
In solar energy application, the cost of traditional inverter based on silicon devices accounts for about 10% of the system, but this is one of the main reasons for the energy loss of the system. Silicon carbide MOSFET or power module photovoltaic inverter combining silicon carbide MOSFET and silicon carbide SBD can improve the conversion efficiency from 96% to more than 99%, reduce energy consumption by more than 50% and prolong the service life of equipment by 50%, thus achieving the effects of reducing system volume, improving power density, prolonging equipment life and reducing manufacturing cost. High efficiency, high power density, high reliability and low cost are the development trends of solar inverters in the future. Silicon carbide products are expected to gradually replace silicon-based devices in series and centralized photovoltaic inverters.
The industrial chain of silicon carbide is upstream substrate, midstream epitaxial wafer manufacturing and downstream device manufacturing in turn. From the whole silicon carbide industry, the United States, Japan and Europe are the three giants in the industry. The United States is the largest in the world, accounting for 70% to 80% of the world's silicon carbide production. Corey's share in the silicon carbide wafer market is as high as 60%; Europe has a complete industrial chain of silicon carbide substrates, epitaxy, devices and applications, and has a strong influence in the global power electronics market. Japan is absolutely leading in equipment and module development. Since 1980s, developed countries such as the United States, Japan and Europe have always placed wide band gap semiconductor technology in an extremely important strategic position to maintain its leading position in aerospace, military and scientific fields. These countries and regions are in the leading position in the field of silicon carbide semiconductors. The industrialization of silicon carbide semiconductor devices is mainly represented by Infineon, Cree, GE, Rome and Toyota.
Domestic silicon carbide semiconductor enterprises are trying to catch up.
Compared with the United States, Japan and Europe, China's silicon carbide enterprises are still lacking in technology and production capacity. China has the largest consumer market in the world, and its growth rate is higher than the world average. The third generation semiconductor industry in China has been growing rapidly since 20 15. From the perspective of the terminal market, its future applications will be widely extended to artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, autonomous driving, 5G technology, car networking and other fields. Third-generation semiconductor devices have penetrated rapidly in emerging applications, and the progress of domestic marketization is obviously faster than that of foreign countries. At present, China's silicon carbide industrial chain has begun to take shape and has the foundation of silicon carbide industrialization. Domestic enterprises are expected to overtake in the local market, and the competitiveness of some representative enterprises, such as Tiankeheda, Shandong Tian Yue and Hebei Tongguang, is constantly improving.
Silicon carbide semiconductor has a wide range of potential applications, and has potential value in power-related fields such as new energy vehicles and solar power generation. With the increasing demand of downstream industries for semiconductor power devices with light weight, high conversion efficiency and low calorific value, it is inevitable to replace silicon in power devices with silicon carbide. However, the problems of high cost and material defects of silicon carbide single crystal and epitaxial materials have not been completely solved, and it is difficult to manufacture. Immature device packaging can not meet the needs of high-frequency and high-temperature applications, and there is still a certain gap between the global silicon carbide technology and industry, which limits the expansion of the silicon carbide device market to some extent.
Silicon carbide material has excellent heat resistance, corrosion resistance and thermal conductivity, and its application prospect is very broad. As the third generation semiconductor material, silicon carbide has attracted more and more attention from the outside world and become a research hotspot at home and abroad. The future development space is limitless. While countries are stepping up their layout, they should also speed up the overall research and development of silicon carbide semiconductors in China and build an independent and internationally competitive silicon carbide material and device industry.
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