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More and more people may inadvertently discover the professional term gallium nitride (GaN) when using mobile phone fast charging chargers. In fact, it is the technological breakthrough of "gallium nitride", the third-generation semiconductor material, that allows the third-generation semiconductor to be applied in more scenarios. For example, gallium nitride electronic devices have the characteristics of high frequency, high conversion efficiency, and high breakdown voltage, which makes micro-display, mobile phone fast charging, gallium nitride cars, etc. have unlimited possibilities.
From a technical perspective, it provides a comprehensive insight into the birth, development and future breakthroughs of the gallium nitride industry.
The domestic industrial chain has basically taken shape, and the industrial structure is relatively focused on the midstream. Chinese companies have entered the market one after another. More than 160,000 patents have been applied for in the gallium nitride industry worldwide, and more than 60,000 patents are valid. Among them, the protection type is mainly invention patents, and the industry's technological innovation is relatively high. The report pointed out that China, the United States and Japan have strong technical strength in this field, and the China, the United States and Japan markets are relatively hot.
In the daily application scenarios of GaN technology, GaN fast charging has entered daily life. Huawei's GaN fast charging charger has been launched on the market, which has the characteristics of high power, super fast charging, light and convenient, and supports charging of mobile phones, tablets, PCs and other devices.
The gallium nitride industry is initially formed
Gallium nitride (GaN) mainly refers to a synthetic semiconductor material. It is a typical representative of the third-generation semiconductor materials and a new material for the development of microelectronic devices and optoelectronic devices. The gallium nitride technology and industrial chain have been initially formed, and related devices are developing rapidly. The third-generation semiconductor gallium nitride industry covers gallium nitride single crystal substrates, semiconductor device chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, and chip applications.
Gallium nitride has a wide range of applications. As a key core component supporting the construction of "new infrastructure", its downstream applications hit the main areas of "new infrastructure" such as 5G base stations, ultra-high voltage, new energy charging piles, and intercity high-speed rail. In addition, the high-efficiency power conversion characteristics of gallium nitride can help achieve efficient power conversion in photovoltaics, wind power (power production), DC ultra-high voltage transmission (power transmission), new energy vehicles, industrial power supplies, locomotive traction, consumer power supplies (power use), and other fields, helping to achieve the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality".
From the perspective of industrial development, the scale of the global gallium nitride industry has shown explosive growth. According to research by the analysis agency Yole, in terms of gallium nitride power devices, the overall market size in 2020 was US$46 million. Driven by consumer electronics, telecommunications and data communications, and electric vehicle applications, it is expected to grow to US$1.1 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 70%. It is worth mentioning that the annual compound growth rate in the electric vehicle field is as high as 185%. In terms of gallium nitride RF devices, the overall market size in 2020 was US$891 million, and it is expected to grow to US$2.4 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 18%.
From the perspective of the industrial chain, the domestic gallium nitride industry chain has basically been formed, and the industrial structure is relatively focused on the midstream (as shown in Figure 1). Chinese companies have entered the market one after another, and the main representative companies are distributed throughout the country (as shown in Figure 2).
Figure 1 Global GaN industry chain map (Source: Zhihuiya)
Figure 2 China’s GaN companies and representative businesses (Source: CASA Research, compiled by Zhihuiya)
Although China started late in gallium nitride technology, it has made great progress
According to Zhihuiya data, more than 160,000 patents have been applied for in the gallium nitride industry worldwide, and more than 60,000 patents are in force (see Figure 3). Among them, the protection type is mainly invention patents, and the industry's technological innovation is relatively high. The report points out that the United States and Japan have strong technical strength in this field, and the markets of China, the United States and Japan are relatively hot.
Figure 3 Global GaN industry patent applications (Source: Zhihuiya)
From the historical evolution of technological development, gallium nitride-related patent applications appeared in the early 1970s. Before 1994, it was still in the exploratory stage with few companies involved. From 1994 to 2005, it entered a period of rapid development, with the main driving force being the commercialization of LED lighting. Starting in 2010, breakthroughs in the large size of gallium nitride substrates and further productization by Japan's Sumitomo and Hitachi promoted further rapid growth in the number of related patents. Since 2014, the number of patent applications has generally tended to develop steadily, with the annual number of patent applications basically maintained at more than 9,000. During this period, the popularity of visible light LEDs declined, while the popularity of GaN-based FET devices, power/RF devices, MicroLEDs and other devices increased.
From the perspective of global technology layout in the field of GaN, China, the United States and Japan are the hot markets for GaN technology layout. Among them, the United States and Japan started earlier, in the early 1970s, while China started later but has a strong momentum (as shown in Figure 4). It is worth noting that the current global GaN technology mainly comes from Japan.
Figure 4: Patent application trends of GaN technology in China, the United States, and Japan (Source: Zhihuiya)
Analysis of three key technologies of GaN
First, GaN substrate technology is a breakthrough in device cost reduction. It is currently developing from small batches to industrial commercialization, and is also developing towards large size and high crystal quality. GaN single crystal substrates are mainly 2-3 inches, 4 inches have been commercialized, and 6 inches have been developed for samples; GaN heteroepitaxial substrates have been industrialized for 6 inches, and 8 inches are currently under product development.
There are more than 13,000 patents for GaN substrate technology in the world, of which more than 4,800 are valid patents, accounting for 35.2%. Among them, the proportion of patents under review is relatively small, which shows that there is little room for growth in valid patents in the future. In addition, there are more patents distributed in the two major markets of Japan and the United States. Most of the top patent applicants for global substrate technology are Japanese companies, with strong overall technical strength, and Japan's Sumitomo has an absolute advantage in technical reserves in the substrate field.
Second, in the application of GaN-based FET device technology, the market size of automotive-grade GaN power devices has entered a new era, and its market size continues to increase. In the field of electric vehicles, EPC and Transphorm have passed automotive certification. At the same time, BMW i Ventures' investment in GaN Systems shows that the automotive industry is increasingly recognizing and attaching importance to GaN power device solutions for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles (EV/HEV).
In general, GaN-based FET devices are developing towards multi-unit modularization. In this field, the United States, Japan and China are the hot markets for GaN-based FET devices, with the focus on the US market. Since 2000, this technology field has begun to develop rapidly, and after 2010, the development speed has further accelerated. Among the leading companies, Japanese companies still account for the majority, and Cree and Intel in the United States also have certain advantages.
Third, Micro LED application scenarios cover a wide range of micro-display and digital terminal fields, and the future is promising. Wearable devices and ultra-large screen displays will enter the market in 2021. According to the analysis agency Yole, by 2025, when the industry chain matures, the shipment volume may reach 330 million units.
The advantages of Micro LED display technology are self-luminescence, low power consumption, high brightness, ultra-high resolution, small size and high color saturation, which is in line with the development direction of thinness, miniaturization, low power consumption and high brightness in the display field. Therefore, Micro LED with high response speed is a very popular new generation display concept today and will become the future development direction of LED.
In the field of Micro LED, mass transfer technology is the focus of development in this field. Micro/Mini LED technology has been in a period of rapid development in the past five years. The trend of patent applications in China is consistent with the global trend, and the development momentum in the past five years has been rapid, leading the world. Among the major global patent applicants for this technology, Facebook and Apple ranked first and second respectively, and domestic companies such as BOE, Goertek, Sanan Optoelectronics, etc. are also among the top.
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千斤顶