Silicon carbide substrate is a compound semiconductor material composed of carbon and silicon elements, which is an ideal material for making high-temperature, high-frequency, high-power, and high-voltage devices. Silicon carbide has significant performance advantages: wide bandgap, high breakdown field strength, high thermal conductivity, fast saturation electron drift rate, and has rolling advantages in high voltage resistance, high temperature resistance, high frequency, etc., and can achieve high withstand voltage, low on-resistance, and high frequency at the same time. Power devices made of silicon carbide are used in a wide range of applications. Devices made of silicon carbide materials are mainly divided into two categories:
1. Conductive type, which is made by growing silicon carbide epitaxial layer on a conductive substrate and further processing, including Schottky diodes, MOSFETs, IGBTs, etc., which are mainly used in electric vehicles, photovoltaic power generation, rail transit, data centers, charging and other infrastructure.
2. Semi-insulated type. It is further fabricated by growing a gallium nitride epitaxial layer on a semi-insulating silicon carbide substrate, including microwave RF devices such as HEMT, which are mainly used in 5G communications, automotive communications, defense applications, data transmission, aerospace and other fields.
Silicon carbide devices have great potential for development and application
1. Photovoltaic power generation field. Photovoltaic inverters using silicon carbide power devices can improve solar energy conversion efficiency, resulting in low cost and high efficiency;
2. New energy vehicles. Silicon carbide power devices are accelerating their penetration into the inverter market, and the market demand for silicon carbide substrates for vehicles in China will be about 16900 million yuan, and it is expected to reach 129 million in 2025900 million yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 972%；
3. Rail transit. Silicon carbide devices can improve the power supply frequency of rail transit traction converters and improve the flexibility and mobility of equipment applications
4. Aerospace field. Silicon carbide is an ideal material for the preparation of aero engines, which can effectively reduce equipment loss
g in the field of communications. In the field of wireless communication, it is possible to ensure the stable operation of communication systems.
The silicon carbide market is broad. According to the world's authoritative semiconductor market research institute Yole**, the market size of silicon carbide power semiconductors will reach 62 in 2027US$9.7 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 34%. Automotive applications dominate the SIC market, accounting for more than 75% of the total power SIC device market. According to Wolfspeed**, a global silicon carbide leader, silicon carbide devices will reach $6.6 billion and $8.9 billion in 2024 and 2026Silicon carbide materials will reach $1.2 billion and $1.7 billion in 2024 and 2026.
Development status of silicon carbide industry:
1. The global industrial pattern is a three-legged trend of the United States, Europe and Japan. Among them, the United States is the largest in the world, accounting for 70% and 80% of the global SIC output, and the market share of CRE in the silicon carbide wafer market is as high as 6%.Europe has a complete industrial chain of SiC substrates, epitaxy, devices and applications, and has a strong voice in the global power electronics marketJapan is an absolute leader in the development of equipment and modules.
2. Supportive policies have been introduced in China. The state, provinces and cities have successively issued relevant policies to take the third-generation semiconductor industry led by silicon carbide as a strategic planning industry. The policy direction of various regions mainly starts from two aspects: strengthening the technical foundation of the industrial chain and improving the performance of silicon carbide products. Beijing takes the lead in developing silicon carbide and other third-generation semiconductor industry requirements, Shanghai focuses on the specific performance of silicon carbide and third-generation semiconductor products, Guangdong will build a core area and demonstration area for industrial agglomeration and development, Jiangsu will strengthen the research and development and application of nano new materials such as carbon materials, and Hubei, Zhejiang and other places propose to strengthen the development of industrial chain technology. The research and development and application of new nano materials such as carbon materials, and Hubei, Zhejiang and other places have proposed to strengthen the development of industrial chain technology.
3. The market size of China's silicon carbide industry is showing a rapid trend. In 2022, the size of China's silicon carbide market will be about 434.5 billion yuan, with an output value of about 204.3 billion yuan, the silicon carbide industry is mainly distributed in East China, South China and other developed regions, accounting for74%。In addition, the silicon carbide semiconductor industry has attracted more than 240 billion yuan, and substrates and chips have become the areas with the largest investment intensity. The amount of investment in the expansion of silicon carbide industry has reached 12726.3 billion yuan (excluding photovoltaics), an increase of 36 over last year7%。At present, silicon carbide is widely used as a key material in solar cells and wind power generation equipment, and its application in metallurgy, chemical industry, semiconductor manufacturing and other industrial fields is also increasing.
4. Domestic and foreign enterprises have accelerated their layout, and the industrial chain has gradually improved. The upstream of the silicon carbide industry chain is substrate and epitaxy, the midstream is device and module manufacturing, and the downstream is terminal applications. Wolfspeed and ROHM have covered all links of the complete industrial chain.
5. Domestic substitution, cost reduction, and yield improvement continue to advance. In terms of domestic substitution, China's SIC R&D and industrialization started late, and overseas manufacturers still dominate, but China's manufacturers have accelerated product iteration, the R&D time is shorter than that of overseas manufacturers, and the performance parameters can be benchmarked, and the market share is rising rapidly. In terms of cost, the expansion of the processing and size of the wafer such as cold cutting and high-speed polishing has improved the processing efficiency and use efficiency of the wafer, and the price gap between SiC devices and SI devices has gradually narrowed. In terms of yield, in view of the problems of temperature control and crystal form control that affect the yield, there are advanced equipment and patented technologies in China, and with the continuous exploration of academia and industry, the yield improvement of SiC can be expected in the future. Semiconductors