Infineon Zero Carbon Industrial Power Division: Become a more reliable SiC solution provider

Latest update time：2024-01-10

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/Introduction/

As the absolute leader in the global power semiconductor market, Infineon has always been at the forefront of exploring the global "carbon reduction" cause. In April 2023, Infineon also officially changed the name of the Industrial Power Control Division to the Zero-Carbon Industrial Power (GIP, Green Industrial Power) Division. This also shows Infineon's determination and confidence to continue to increase its investment in the green energy market.

SiC is a key product of Infineon's carbon reduction business. Infineon has been making a lot of efforts to promote SiC products in multiple key application markets. At the same time, Infineon is also firmly optimistic about the development prospects of SiC. In 2024, Infineon will also release a variety of silicon carbide products and a new generation of silicon carbide technology.

This time we invited Mr. Wang Dan, Product Director of the Greater China Region of Infineon Technologies’ Zero-Carbon Industrial Power Division, to share with us the exploration progress and plans of Infineon’s SiC products in the zero-carbon industrial market:

What is the current iteration status of Infineon’s CoolSiC™ chip technology currently used in the industrial market, and its reliability performance?

A: Silicon carbide MOSFET is different from traditional silicon in terms of material and device characteristics. How to ensure the balance between performance and reliability is the primary issue that all manufacturers need to face. Infineon's M1H CoolSiC™ MOSFET asymmetric trench gate offers an optimal compromise between performance and reliability.

As an advocate and pioneer of trench gate technology, Infineon CoolSiC™ MOSFET adopts an asymmetric trench gate structure. This innovative technology solves the reliability problem of the gate oxide layer and improves the performance of SiC MOSFET. , and allows each wafer to produce 30% more chips than planar gates, maintaining sustained competitive advantages in cost and performance.

The newly launched enhanced M1H silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET chip further improves the quality of the gate oxide layer, making the threshold drift negligible and significantly broadening the gate voltage window. The threshold voltage of the M1H chip is about 4.5V and has a very low Miller capacitance, which can effectively suppress parasitic conduction phenomena and increase reliability.

The performance advantages of Infineon's CoolSiC™ chip technology enable the converter design to become more efficient, and the rated power of a single inverter can be further increased, thereby reducing the overall system cost.

The penetration rate of silicon carbide continues to rise. What is the shipment proportion and trend forecast of Infineon's silicon carbide products in the industrial market?

A: We predict that the market size of SiC will grow to approximately 20 billion euros by 2030 . By then, Infineon will occupy 30% of the global SiC market share, of which the industrial and automotive application markets are expected to account for 50% each.

At present, Infineon is penetrating the silicon carbide 1200V market at a high speed. Can you tell us when the demand for markets with higher voltage requirements (such as 3300V) will launch mass production products? How do you view the demand for silicon carbide in the high-voltage market?

A: The development of power electronic systems such as photovoltaics, electric vehicles, energy storage and charging to higher voltages has become an inevitable trend in the industry, which also places high voltage withstand requirements on semiconductor devices.

Compared with silicon-based high-voltage devices, silicon carbide switching devices have higher frequencies and smaller on-resistance and switching losses. They have natural application advantages in high-power or ultra-high-power applications, and will surely accompany the development of applications. Towards higher voltage level storage development.

Infineon has accumulated more than 20 years of rich experience and innovative technologies in silicon carbide chip technology, device design and application, and continues to innovate, launching SiC power devices with higher voltage levels, and developing industrial-grade and automotive-grade solutions in parallel. power, spanning 600V to 3300V specifications.

Since 2000V CoolSiC™ MOSFET launched the Easy3B packaged power module in 2022, this year a new industry standard packaging product has been added to the 2000V MOSFET module series - the 62mm CoolSiC™ MOSFET 2000V M1H product.

In addition, Infineon will launch a 3.3kV XHP2 CoolSiC™ MOSFET power module in 2023, specifically tailored for traction applications. This module not only meets harsh operating conditions such as traction, but also reduces the total energy consumption of train motors and frequency converters by 10%, helping to create greener and quieter trains. These properties are extremely important for future train traffic.

It is precisely because of the excellent performance of SiC MOSFET that it is increasingly used in photovoltaic inverters, UPS, ESS, electric vehicle charging, fuel cells, motor drives and electric vehicles.

Is production capacity still the main issue affecting market applications? What adjustments has Infineon made in the silicon carbide product supply chain layout?

A: In the past three or four years, the shortage of wafer supply has been one of the major bottlenecks restricting the development of the wide-bandgap semiconductor industry. Faced with growing market demand, many heavyweight players, including Infineon, have realized that they must expand investment to support supply chain construction.

Infineon aims to become the most competitive SiC technology provider in the industry and aims to increase its share of the global silicon carbide market to 30% by 2030, with annual silicon carbide revenue exceeding 7 billion euros.

In 2023, Infineon will invest 5 billion euros to build the world's largest 8-inch silicon carbide power wafer fab in Malaysia; it will transform the existing silicon equipment at the Villach plant and convert the existing 150 mm and 200 mm silicon production lines into Silicon carbide and gallium nitride production line center.

In addition, Infineon has signed wafer and ingot supply agreements with six SiC suppliers, including Tianyue Advanced and Tianke Heda, to ensure the efficiency and safety of the supply chain and to prepare for the strong silicon carbide market. growth, consolidating SiC technology and scale leadership.

Industrial customers pay more attention to cost. Taking the photovoltaic market as an example, domestic silicon carbide product supply price competition is fierce. How does Infineon build high competition barriers on the customer side?

A: Adhere to technological innovation: As a semiconductor company whose life is based on innovation, Infineon has long been practicing the concept of technological innovation driving product innovation and product innovation driving application innovation.

As an industry leader in power semiconductors, Infineon has ranked first in the global power semiconductor market share for 20 consecutive years, and continues to increase its investment in third-generation semiconductors, from silicon, silicon carbide to gallium nitride. Infineon has a strong presence in all materials and technology in the field of power systems, maintaining its leading position in the market through technological innovation and differentiated products.

Adhere to customer orientation: Product innovation and application innovation in semiconductor technology are integrating in an unprecedented way, and they are growing iteratively together. Infineon always stands closely with customers, listens to their voices, designs leading solutions with customers, jointly participates in the early development of emerging applications, launches more products that meet customer needs, and helps them become technology leaders in the local market .

Adhere to long-termism: Infineon adheres to the business philosophy of long-termism, complies with the two major global directions of low-carbonization and digitalization, and actively plans for the long-term development of the three sectors of consumer electronics, energy, and automobiles, from the supply of raw materials to the optimization of production processes. Together, we fully control the production process to ensure the long-term safety and reliability of the supply chain. Based on the long-term technical route, high-quality and reliable quality assurance, we will form differentiated and large-scale competitive advantages and calmly respond to market opportunities and challenges.

Silicon carbide is currently used at different paces in different industrial markets. In addition to the photovoltaic market, what other application markets is Infineon optimistic about? Which products enable customers to upgrade their application designs?

A: The application potential of SiC devices runs throughout the entire energy conversion chain, providing the potential to improve energy efficiency in application scenarios such as transportation, new energy power generation, energy storage, and data centers.

Taking photovoltaics as an example, using Infineon's CoolSiC™ series of silicon carbide MOSFETs can double the power of a string inverter without changing the weight. The phenomenon of efficiency decline during high-temperature operation will also be greatly improved by the use of silicon carbide devices.

In energy storage systems, batteries are the main cost burden. If you switch from super junction MOSFET to 1200V silicon carbide MOSFET, battery loss can be reduced and battery power can be increased without increasing battery size.

In addition, CoolSiC™ MOSFET can reduce the system size of industrial power supplies, significantly reducing the energy consumption of uninterruptible power supply systems that operate around the clock.

For electric vehicle charging pile applications, Infineon's silicon carbide products benefit from their high power density. The number of devices is reduced by half compared with similar silicon solutions, allowing for higher charging efficiency.

Infineon advocates the strategic approach of "from products to systems" , but from product technology to solutions is a huge system project, which cannot be successfully achieved by oneself. It can only be achieved through close cooperation with customers and in-depth development. Only by understanding the customer can we solve the problems faced by the customer's system and help the customer's system achieve optimal results. Only in this way can we truly design products that are both innovative and recognized by the market.

At the beginning of 2023, Infineon renamed the industrial application department. Can you introduce the market customers and department missions that GIP mainly faces?

A: Infineon is the only power semiconductor company that can provide complete products and system solutions for power generation, transmission, distribution and energy storage in terms of energy efficiency. It has a wide range of applications, covering power generation, energy storage and power transmission. , home appliances, industrial drives, industrial power supplies, industrial robots, industrial vehicles, traction, etc., are essential in every link of the energy conversion chain.

Infineon is committed to injecting unlimited green energy into the world so that everyone can obtain the energy they need anytime, anywhere. In April 2023, the Industrial Power Control (IPC, Industry Power Control) Division was officially renamed the Zero-Carbon Industrial Power (GIP, Green Industrial Power) Division. This also shows Infineon’s determination and confidence to continue to increase its investment in the green energy market. .

Infineon is a leader in wind and solar energy, and the company's power semiconductors set high efficiency standards for the entire energy conversion chain. In the future, Infineon will continue to rely on its extensive product portfolio and technologies, as well as its cutting-edge expertise in power semiconductors, software and services, and its experienced global team to support the green transformation of society and drive the entire industry and society towards net-zero emissions. , achieve dual carbon goals.

Are there any new silicon carbide product launch plans in 2024?

A: In 2024, Infineon’s silicon carbide products will be released. In addition, Infineon's next-generation silicon carbide technology will also be disclosed in more detail in 2024, so stay tuned!

Write at the end:

It can be seen that Infineon has high hopes and confidence in the development prospects of silicon carbide. From the perspective of the layout of the silicon carbide industry chain, Infineon is fully penetrating and gradually improving silicon carbide semiconductor technology and product portfolio and production capacity in terms of products, production capacity, applications, etc., and is fully prepared for the upcoming market explosion!