Silicon Carbide: The Key Material of The Third Generation Semiconductor

Semiconductor raw materials have experienced three development stages: the first stage is the first generation of semiconductor raw materials represented by silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge); the second stage is gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP) ) And other compounds as representatives; the third stage is mainly based on wide-bandgap semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), and has become a critical new material supporting the development of information, energy, transportation, advanced manufacturing, national defence and other fields.

As a representative material of the third-generation semiconductor, the silicon carbide market is developing rapidly. It has excellent performance, and the market application area is biased to the medium and high voltage range above 1000V. It is currently mainly used for high-temperature, high-frequency, high-efficiency high-power components. It has the advantages of high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and excellent thermal stability.

SiC (silicon carbide) is a compound semiconductor material composed of Si (silicon) and C (carbon). The critical breakdown field strength of SiC is ten times that of Si, the bandgap is three times that of Si, and the thermal conductivity is three times that of Si, so it is considered to be a power device material that exceeds the limit of Si. Therefore, compared with Si devices, a high withstands voltage power device can be made with a drift layer having a higher impurity concentration and a thinner thickness.

At present, hybrid silicon carbide modules have been commercialized, and pure silicon carbide modules have also begun to quickly penetrate and be applied in the fields of home appliances, photovoltaic inverters and DC charging piles. As the cost of silicon carbide power devices decreases, performance advantages will prompt the rapid growth of downstream demand for silicon carbide power devices.

The new energy automotive industry, as a strategic emerging industry with rapid growth and continuous technological innovation, will provide a broad stage for multiple subdivided technical fields in the process of increasing the penetration rate of automotive electrification; various technologies are expected to emerge in the industrial chain Leading dark horse enterprise.

Although the first-generation silicone materials are natural to obtain and the process technology is relatively mature, in high-frequency and high-pressure applications, the performance is not as good as silicon carbide or gallium nitride products. With the expansion of 5G and other applications, the first-generation silicon materials The advantages of silicon materials are suppressed. The growth of third-generation semiconductor materials will become a trend. With the advancement of technology and the reduction of cost, silicon carbide will become an important direction to lead the development of semiconductors, and silicon carbide has good development prospects in the future.