The manufacturer said that SiC production capacity has increased by 7 times and will enter the eight-inch
Latest update time：2021-12-29 17:23
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Source: Content from Semiconductor Industry Observation Comprehensive , thank you.
According to Taiwan media Juheng.com, Taiwan manufacturer Epistar recently pointed out that the current demand for 6-inch SiC continues to be strong and production capacity is fully loaded. The production capacity will be expanded to 5,000 pieces within three years. Epistar also stated for the first time that it will enter the 8-inch SiC process. It is expected that the cost of 8-inch SiC substrates will be greatly reduced by 20-30%. Epistar will also enter and expand its operating momentum.
Hanlei's current monthly production capacity of SiC and GaN is approximately 1,000 6-inch wafers each. Next year, SiC production capacity will increase significantly, and GaN will also be expanded to 2,000 wafers. At a recent earnings conference, Hanlei estimated that SiC production will continue to expand in the next 2-3 years, and production capacity will reach 5-7 times the current level.
Han Lei continued to point out that the current 6-inch SiC production capacity continues to be fully loaded, and the growth momentum of future capacity expansion will be concentrated in automotive and solar energy.
As for the 8-inch SiC process, Zhang Zailiang pointed out that with the massive expansion of production by Wolfspeed, the world's leading SiC wafer manufacturer, the related production capacity will increase by 30 times. In addition, many manufacturers in Taiwan and mainland China have joined the ranks of compound semiconductors. In the future, the cost of 8-inch substrates is expected to be reduced by 20-30%. Hanlei will not be absent from the 8-inch SiC field.
Compared with the substantial expansion of SiC production capacity, Zhang Zailiang said that many manufacturers are planning to develop GaN, including TSMC and other wafer foundries. However, 6-inch GaN is suitable for making discrete components. Hanlei will focus on this field and occupy a place in it.
The challenges of eight-inch SiC
As we all know, silicon-based wafers have begun to move from 8 inches to 12 inches. Can the production experience of silicon wafers help SiC wafers develop to a larger area? Compared with silicon wafers, what are the difficulties in producing SiC wafers?
Dr. He Weiwei, general manager of Shenzhen Basic Semiconductor Co., Ltd., said: "Compared with silicon chips, the main difference between 8-inch and 6-inch SiC production lies in high-temperature processes, such as high-temperature ion implantation, high-temperature oxidation, high-temperature activation, and the hard mask process required by these high-temperature processes."
High-temperature technology is related to the yield of SiC, which is also one of the key links that major SiC manufacturers focus on research and development.
In addition to the differences in production process with silicon wafers, there are also some differences in the development of SiC from 6 inches to 8 inches.
"In the ion implantation, thin film deposition, dielectric etching, metallization and other links of power semiconductor manufacturing, there is little difference between 8-inch silicon carbide and 6-inch SiC." Dr. He Weiwei pointed out: "The manufacturing difficulties of 8-inch SiC are mainly concentrated in substrate growth, substrate cutting and oxidation processes. Among them, in terms of substrate growth, the difficulty of substrate growth will increase exponentially when the diameter is expanded to 8 inches; in terms of substrate cutting, the larger the substrate size, the more significant the cutting stress and warping problems; the oxidation process has always been the core difficulty in the silicon carbide process. 8-inch and 6-inch have different requirements for the control of airflow and temperature field, and the processes need to be developed independently."
Obviously, the road for SiC to develop towards larger wafer area is not easy. In this regard, we can get a glimpse of it from the process of SiC moving from 4 inches to 6 inches. According to Yole's forecast data, there will be nearly 100,000 4-inch SiC wafers in 2020, while the market demand for 6-inch wafers has exceeded 80,000 pieces, and it is expected to gradually surpass 4-inch wafers in 2030.
In this way, the 8-inch SiC market is still on the eve of an explosion. So, how are domestic and foreign manufacturers preparing for the 8-inch SiC era? What is their current situation?
Global status of eight-inch SiC
From the current global market situation, the SiC market is mainly occupied by foreign manufacturers such as Cree, Infineon, SiCrystal under Rohm Semiconductor, II-IV, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, and Dow Corning. At the same time, according to public market data, after these manufacturers entered the 6-inch production, some of them have expanded their 6-inch production lines in the past two years and are actively promoting the development of SiC to 8 inches.
Judging from their layout progress for 8-inch SiC, in terms of technology and equipment, there are already commercial 8-inch equipment such as epitaxial furnaces, high-temperature oxidation furnaces, and high-temperature activation furnaces for sale, and they have been purchased by many international giant IDM manufacturers.
Among the world-renowned manufacturers, four companies, including Cree, II-VI, SiCrystal (a subsidiary of Rohm Group), and ST Microelectronics, already have 8-inch SiC substrate technology, and some companies have displayed their 8-inch substrates. Cree displayed 8-inch SiC samples in 2015, and completed the preparation of the first batch of 8-inch SiC wafer samples in 2019. The new wafer fab being built in Durham, USA, is also planned to focus on 8-inch SiC products. II-VI and SiCrystal have also displayed 8-inch SiC substrate samples to the public, and II-VI was earlier than Cree in displaying samples.
According to the mass production plans of major manufacturers, Cree plans to reach full production of its 8-inch SiC wafer factory in 2024; in April this year, II-VI also stated that it will increase its SiC substrate production capacity by 5 to 10 times in the next five years, including mass production of 8-inch diameter substrates; Infineon Technologies expects to start mass production of 8-inch substrates around 2023, with the goal of mass production of 8-inch SiC substrate devices by 2025.
Dr. He Weiwei believes that with the arrival of 8-inch SiC, 8-inch SiC may bring the following changes to the industry:
1. Further price reduction: After 8-inch SiC goes into mass production, the device price will be further reduced compared to 6-inch SiC.
2. Further market development: As prices continue to fall, silicon carbide products will enter more markets.
3. Competition intensifies: Small-size (4-inch) silicon carbide wafer factories will gradually be eliminated due to cost reasons. 8-inch is the mainstream size of silicon-based power semiconductors. When 8-inch silicon carbide becomes the mainstream of the market, more silicon-based semiconductor giants will join the competition of silicon carbide.
4. The importance of core technology is highlighted: As technology continues to develop, the cost gap caused by the performance gap will become more obvious, and manufacturers with relatively weak technical capabilities will gradually be eliminated.
Domestic eight-inch SiC situation
From the domestic situation, China has made some achievements in 6-inch SiC production lines. The known 6-inch SiC production lines in China include China Electronics 55th Institute, CRRC, San'an Optoelectronics, China Resources Microelectronics, Jetta, Yandong Microelectronics (co-built with Shenzhen Basic Semiconductor), State Grid, etc. The manufacturing level of silicon carbide Schottky diodes is close to that of international manufacturers, and the technology of large-scale mass production of reliability-verified MOSFETs is becoming more mature.
According to a research report by Essence Securities, the domestic 6-inch production line is in the process of improving and is expected to be further improved in the future. At the same time, the research and development of the 8-inch production line is being accelerated.
In terms of the development progress of domestic 8-inch SiC production lines, some domestic companies and units have already established projects as pre-research projects. This includes that in October 2020, Shanxi Shuoke Crystal Co., Ltd., which is held by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, has successfully developed 8-inch substrate wafers and is about to go into mass production; according to the prospectus published by Tianke Heda on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, it also started the research and development of 8-inch SiC wafers in 2020.
At the same time, Dr. He Weiwei also pointed out that to promote the construction of 8-inch production lines and accelerate industrial development, it requires cooperation and joint efforts from all sectors of society, peers and upstream and downstream partners. For example: substrate manufacturers further obtain crystals with low defect density and further reduce warping in the field of substrate cutting; epitaxial manufacturers accelerate the breakthrough of epitaxial processes with low surface defects and low through-type defects; device manufacturers continue to improve process capabilities and improve designs to reduce mass production costs in response to the impact of international manufacturers; the downstream application end provides testing, application platforms and opportunities for domestic devices, accelerates domestic substitution, supports domestic device manufacturers, and grows together with device manufacturers.
Therefore, we have also noticed the layout of domestic companies related to the 8-inch SiC industry chain. In terms of equipment and materials, in November 2020, Hefei Luxshare Technology invested 10 billion yuan to build a research and development and production base for the SIC equipment manufacturing, crystal growth production, substrate processing, epitaxial production and other industrial chains. According to their plan, the second and third phases will respectively achieve an annual output of 100,000 8-inch substrate wafers (Phase II), 100,000 8-inch epitaxial wafers and 150,000 8-inch substrate wafers (Phase III).
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
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