Three wide bandgap semiconductors are disrupting new energy vehicles. Who will become the winner?

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Recently, market research organization Yole pointed out in its latest report that Tesla's record shipments helped silicon carbide reach a market size of $1 billion in 2021. So far, BYD's "Han" series electric vehicles and Hyundai's Ioniq-5 have both gained fast charging capabilities due to the high-performance silicon carbide modules, which has also enabled them to achieve good sales. More electric vehicle manufacturers such as Weilai and Xiaopeng plan to bring electric vehicles using silicon carbide devices to the market in 2022. Yole predicts that by 2027, the silicon carbide power device market is expected to grow from $1 billion in 2021 to more than $6 billion.

Coincidentally, GaN power devices will also attract much attention in the automotive DC converters and on-board chargers of electric vehicles, and manufacturers of GaN power devices are accelerating the automotive certification of their products. Yole said that electric vehicles will become the next wave of growth for GaN power devices, and it is expected that by 2027, the market share of GaN power devices in electric vehicles will exceed US$227 million, and the annual compound growth rate will reach 99% from 2021 to 2027.

Gallium oxide, a "new" member of the wide bandgap semiconductor family, has also achieved impressive results in recent years. According to the global market forecast of wide bandgap power semiconductor components by Fuji Keizai, a Japanese market research company, the market size of gallium oxide power components will reach 154.2 billion yen (about 1.22 billion US dollars) in 2030, which is larger than the market size of gallium nitride power components (about 860 million US dollars).

It can be seen that silicon carbide, gallium nitride and gallium oxide have brought a huge impact on the field of power semiconductors for new energy vehicles, and have become a new focus of competition among leading domestic and foreign companies. However, there are many intersections in the application fields among the three, and the competitive relationship has gradually surfaced. For example, gallium nitride is suitable for the medium and low voltage market below 1000V, and silicon carbide is suitable for the medium and high voltage market above 650V. Therefore, the application field within the voltage range of 650V~1000V is the main competitive field for gallium nitride and silicon carbide. As a new type of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor material, although gallium oxide is still in the process of research and development, compared with silicon carbide and gallium nitride, the bandgap width of gallium oxide is much higher than that of silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Studies have shown that power devices made of gallium oxide materials are more heat-resistant and efficient, lower in cost and wider in application than products made of silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Some experts even said that gallium oxide will be expected to replace silicon carbide and gallium nitride in the field of power devices. It can be foreseen that the battle between the three is about to begin.

Silicon carbide is known as an "ideal device" due to its stable chemical properties, high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient, good wear resistance, and high hardness. It is the most widely used wide-bandgap semiconductor. New energy vehicles are the hottest market at the moment, and it is also the field where silicon carbide can best display its strength.

Data source: Trendforce

In 2018, Tesla took the lead in using 650V silicon carbide MOSFET devices supplied by STMicroelectronics in the Model 3 electric drive main inverter, and received good vehicle feedback data. After seeing the strength of silicon carbide in the field of new energy vehicles, major manufacturers have joined the research and development ranks and launched automotive-grade products at the fastest speed to seize the market. At present, the main players in the wide bandgap semiconductor track include: STMicroelectronics, Infineon, Wolfspeed, Rohm Semiconductor, Dow Corning, Showa Denko, Renesas, Norstel, etc.

It is understood that the application of silicon carbide devices in new energy vehicles is mainly in power control units (PCU), inverters, DC-DC converters, on-board chargers, etc. Silicon carbide can make the module have the advantages of miniaturization of peripheral component systems, miniaturization of electronic control modules, and simplified cooling structure, thereby improving the range of new energy vehicles. Li Guoqiang, director of Strategy Analytics, pointed out that silicon carbide MOSFET will definitely replace automotive IGBT chips in the future. Market research agency Yole predicts that by 2025, the market size of silicon carbide in the field of new energy vehicles and charging piles will reach US$1.778 billion, accounting for about 70% of the total market size of silicon carbide.

Market share of each segment of silicon carbide power devices from 2021 to 2027 (forecast)

Data source: Yole

In a field where silicon carbide power devices are developing so rapidly, competition among players is naturally becoming increasingly fierce, with news of capital increases, production expansions, and cooperation emerging one after another.

Recently, Wolfspeed announced that its Mohawk Valley plant in New York State, the United States, was officially put into operation. This is the world's first and only 200mm large-scale silicon carbide wafer manufacturing plant; Infineon announced that it will invest 2 billion euros (about 2.27 billion US dollars) to build a third plant in its plant in Kulin, Malaysia, to improve its manufacturing capabilities in the field of wide bandgap semiconductors (silicon carbide and gallium nitride) and further increase production capacity; STMicroelectronics provides silicon carbide (SiC) technology for the power modules of eMPack electric vehicles of power module system manufacturer Semikron. In addition, they also announced with MACOM that they have successfully developed RF silicon-based gallium nitride (RF GaN-on-Si) prototype chips. RF silicon-based gallium nitride can bring huge development potential for 5G and 6G mobile infrastructure applications; Rohm announced that it will increase investment. The new factories in Chikugo and Miyazaki, Japan, will be put into operation in 2022. It plans to increase device production capacity by more than 5 times, with the aim of seizing 30% of the global silicon carbide market.

Moreover, more and more car companies are installing or planning to install silicon carbide modules on more electric models. BYD's flagship model "Han" is equipped with a high-performance silicon carbide MOSFET motor control module, which allows it to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds. BYD expects to use silicon carbide semiconductors to fully replace IGBT semiconductors in 2023, and the vehicle's endurance performance will be improved by another 10% on the existing basis. Geely Auto announced that it will use Rohm's advanced silicon carbide power solutions to develop efficient electronic control systems and on-board charging systems to extend the range of electric vehicles, reduce battery costs and shorten charging time. Recently, NIO also announced that it has selected ON Semiconductor's latest VE-Trac Direct silicon carbide power module for its next-generation electric vehicles.

In addition to the booming silicon carbide, many companies have also tried to put gallium nitride on cars. At PCIM Europe 2020, Jim Witham, CEO of GaN Systems, introduced an All-GaN car that uses solar batteries from renewable energy, proving the feasibility of gallium nitride in automotive power conversion and that GaN is suitable for all applications that require higher voltage, frequency, temperature, and efficiency.

Market revenue of GaN power devices in various segments from 2021 to 2027 (forecast)

Data source: Yole

"Some application scenarios in new energy vehicles require a voltage of 650V~1000V. Therefore, the new energy vehicle field has also become a major area of ​​'dispute' between silicon carbide and gallium nitride, such as power drive, on-board charging OBC and on-board DCDC." Lei Guangyin, a researcher at the Institute of Engineering and Applied Technology of Fudan University, told a reporter from China Electronics News.

From a commercial perspective, the potential markets for silicon carbide and gallium nitride are mainly concentrated in power electronic devices for new energy vehicles. It is estimated that by 2025, the global market size of silicon carbide and gallium nitride power electronic devices used in new energy vehicles is expected to exceed US$2.5 billion. Li Long, deputy general manager of CCID Consulting's New Materials Industry Research Center, said that the market advantages of silicon carbide in the field of new energy vehicles are mainly reflected in improving driving range and reducing the size of power conversion systems, while the application of gallium nitride in the field of new energy vehicles is expected to be gradually rolled out around 2025, and its main market advantages are reflected in significantly shortening the charging time of new energy vehicles and reducing the size of power conversion systems.

Although silicon carbide is still superior in the market application of new energy vehicles, as medium and low voltage gallium nitride technology continues to mature and its competitiveness continues to improve, it will greatly accelerate the ecological development of gallium nitride in the field of new energy vehicles. It is understood that about 68% of global power devices are used in the 0~900V range, which is also the main application area of ​​gallium nitride. It is estimated that the potential market size of gallium nitride power devices worldwide is about US$30 billion. In the future, medium and low voltage gallium nitride power devices are expected to be more vibrant in consumer electronics, automobiles, industry and other fields. It is understood that Ansem Semiconductor has used GaN materials to develop automotive products for 900V high voltage, and there are plans for 1200V products in the future, which breaks the traditional thinking that GaN is only suitable for medium and low voltage products.

"New energy vehicles have stringent requirements for high efficiency and high power density. By saving the space occupied by components in the car, the riding space can be made more comfortable. In terms of high power density, strong endurance and other requirements, the current silicon power semiconductor material devices have reached a bottleneck period. The switching speed of gallium nitride devices is much faster than that of silicon MOSFET, and it can better meet the needs of new energy vehicles in terms of high efficiency and high power density." said Li Dongyue, Director of Greater China for MOS Business Group at Nexperia Semiconductor.

The competition among major companies in the research and development of wide bandgap semiconductors is in full swing, especially gallium oxide, which is known as an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor and is also regarded as the next generation of semiconductors. Studies have shown that power devices made of gallium oxide materials are more heat-resistant, efficient and less expensive than those made of silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Therefore, it is generally believed in the industry that gallium oxide is expected to replace silicon carbide and gallium nitride and become the representative of the new generation of automotive power semiconductor materials.

Novell Crystal Technology, a Japanese company, is a pioneer in the research and development of gallium oxide crystals and the first company in the world to be able to mass-produce gallium oxide basic materials (single crystals and epitaxy) and devices. They are working with technology giants such as Murata Manufacturing, Mitsubishi Electric, Denso and Fuji Electric, as well as scientific research institutions such as Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Kyoto University and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology of Japan to promote the industrialization of gallium oxide single crystals and substrate materials as well as downstream power devices.

Novell Crystal Technology and Saga University have recently collaborated to develop a third-generation gallium oxide 100mm epitaxial wafer. This development is part of the strategic energy-saving technology innovation plan of the National Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan. In this development, the epitaxial wafer manufacturing technology has been improved, reducing the number of fatal defects to 1/10 of the previous generation of traditional wafers.

According to the NEDO official website, this research and development result will enable gallium oxide power devices to be widely used in markets requiring 100A-class power devices, such as electric vehicles, industrial equipment, etc., and is expected to make significant progress in achieving carbon neutrality and energy conservation.

Hao Yue, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out in an interview with China Electronics News that gallium oxide is one of the materials most likely to shine in the future. In the next 10 years or so, gallium oxide devices are likely to become competitive power electronic devices and will directly compete with silicon carbide devices. However, the current research and development progress of gallium oxide is not fast enough and still requires unremitting efforts.

In order to ensure that they do not lag behind in the field of new energy vehicles and to increase the speed of research and development, major companies are currently actively cooperating with well-known universities to form an industry-university-research ecosystem.

Advanced diagram of representative semiconductor materials

Professor Long Shibing's research team from the School of Microelectronics at USTC said that the rapid development of energy, information, national defense, rail transit, electric vehicles and other fields has put forward higher requirements for the performance of power semiconductor devices. High-voltage, low-loss, and high-power devices have become the future development trend. As a new generation of power semiconductor materials, gallium oxide has a large bandgap and strong resistance to extreme environments. It is expected to play an important role in the field of power devices in the future. However, there are still many problems in promoting the industrialization of gallium oxide power semiconductor devices, including the difficulty in suppressing the edge peak electric field and the difficulty in realizing enhancement transistors.

It can be seen that in the field of new energy vehicle power semiconductors, the three major wide bandgap semiconductors have their own advantages in performance. Major companies in various countries are working in different directions, presenting a state of flourishing flowers. With the emergence of more new products and new technologies, the competition among the three major wide bandgap semiconductors is bound to become more intense, and the replacement relationship between them will become more obvious. Who will become the real king? Let us wait and see.