Photo shows the wafer fabrication facility of United Nova Technology Co., Ltd. (Photo by United Nova Technology)
BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Walking into the 8-inch wafer dust-free fabrication facility of United Nova Technology Co., Ltd., a bustling scene comes into sight with staff operating various equipment and overhead cranes shuttling back and forth transporting wafers.
"With the heating-up of downstream market, the company has nearly reached full capacity utilization," said Michael Zhao, CEO of United Nova Technology, giving the example that the 6-inch silicon carbide (SiC) production line, capable of producing over 5,000 pieces monthly, has been operating at full load.
An increasing demand for automotive-grade SiC products is seen in the market, yet the high cost of SiC hinders large-scale application. The cost, however, is expected to drop with the accelerating transition of wafers from 6 inch to 8 inch, according to industry observers.
-- Development beating expectations
SiC features wide bandgap and is also known for its ability to withstand high voltage and temperature, thus being recognized as a typical representative of third-generation semiconductor materials.
Recent years' rapid development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) as well as wind and solar power storage has kept pushing up demand for SiC devices and modules, which are expected to help address pain points such as short driving range and long recharging time for NEVs, while boost the conversion efficiency and lifespan of inverters in the realm of PV power generation.
"Customers are urging delivery of SiC orders. This April, our 6-inch and 8-inch production lines reached almost full-capacity, while our 5-inch and 12-inch production lines' capacity utilization was around 80 percent," Zheng Shaobo, general manager of Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd., introduced at the company's 2024 first-quarter performance briefing.
Amid rapidly growing demand for SiC devices and modules, SICC Co., Ltd., an upstream SiC substrate manufacturer, reported a year-on-year increase of 120.66 percent in its first-quarter revenue, which reached 426 million yuan, with profits standing at 46 million yuan.
SICC noted that the global market currently has a strong demand for high-quality SiC substrates. Alongside the increasing penetration in NEV field, applications in other fields are also on the rise. The development of the third-generation semiconductor industry significantly beats market expectations.
-- NEV application speeding up
SiC is applied in key NEV power systems, including main traction inverters, on-board chargers (OBC), and DC-DC converters, according to industry experts.
"The elevating of NEV power platforms from 600V to 800V or even 1,200V imposes higher requirements for power chip performance. Thus SiC featuring high efficiency, low energy consumption, and high-temperature resistance becomes most NEV manufacturers' sought-after," said Mao Yihui, a senior analyst with Inno Investment Bank Research Institute.
At the 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition held in April, several car companies revealed their updates on SiC. Among them, Voyah unveiled its latest full-stack in-house developed Lanhai power platform equipped with an 800V high-efficiency SiC electric drive system. NIO showcased its self-developed 1,200V SiC traction power modules. Geely presented its SiC hybrid drive related technology.
Xiaomi introduced that its whole SU7 series adopts SiC high-voltage platform, with all driving motors equipped with SiC power modules. Silan Microelectronics noted a sharp uptick in demand for automotive-grade SiC power products, predicting that its vehicles installed with SiC main traction module could exceed 8,000 units in May and surpass 20,000 units in June.
"2024 is expected to be the first year of large-scale adoption of SiC in NEVs," according to Michael Zhao, noting that he company's SiC shipment is predicted to rise to 10,000 per month in the latter half of the year. "Our SiC business is set to achieve a revenue of over 1 billion yuan in 2024, with an ambitious target of capturing around 30 percent of global market share by 2027," said Michael Zhao.
-- 8-inch gaining momentum
Industry insiders note a major obstacle to SiC large-scale application resides in its high cost. The SiC devices are currently priced at four to five times the cost of silicon devices, and manufacturers are trying to reduce the cost of SiC devices to within 2.5 times the cost of their silicon counterparts, Michael Zhao explained.
Michael Zhao believed that transitioning wafers from 6 inch to 8 inch could help boost production capacity advantages and cost efficiency, adding that improving yield and shifting from planar to trench device designs will help optimize the overall SiC cost.
Multiple companies are marching into this field. Silan Microelectronics announced this May 21 that the company had signed an investment cooperation agreement with Xiamen Semiconductor Investment Group Co., Ltd. and Xiamen Xinyi Technology Industry Co., Ltd., planning to build a production line for 8-inch SiC power device chips in Haicang District, Xiamen City of east China's Fujian Province. The production line will primarily produce SiC-MOSFETs, targeting a monthly production capacity of 60,000.
Hunan Sanan Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Sanan Optoelectronics specializing in the SiC business. Li Xuetan, the secretary of the board at the Sanan Optoelectronics, introduced that Sanan is scaling up its production capacity by fully adopting state-of-the-art 8-inch production equipment and technology. The company plans to commence production in the third quarter of this year, aiming to achieve an annual production capacity of 480,000 wafers upon full operation.
It is noted that United Nova has successfully launched its 8-inch SiC engineering batch products on April 20. "Our company is the first domestic wafer fab to produce 8-inch SiC wafers, marking a significant step towards cost optimization for downstream customers while helping accelerate the mass penetration of SiC technology," said Michael Zhao. (Edited by Niu Huizhe with Xinhua Silk Road, niuhuizhe@xinhua.org)
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