In recent years, many areas in China have built the third generation semiconductor production line, which shows that the third generation semiconductor investment fever is quietly taking place. What impact will this investment boom have on the industry as a whole? What problems should we pay attention to in domestic development of third generation semiconductor? What needs to be done?

Industrial development is in full swing

The third-generation semiconductors, represented by silicon carbide and gallium nitride, have become the new focus of the industry as they play an important role in the fields of new energy vehicles, communications and household appliances by virtue of their advantages of high efficiency, high density and high reliability.

Zhu Shaoxin, deputy director of the Institute of Integrated Circuit of CCID Think Tank, said in an interview with China Electronics News that under the clear traction of 5G communication, new energy vehicles, photovoltaic inverters and other application needs, at present, the leading enterprises in the application field have begun to use the third generation semiconductor technology, which has further boosted the industry confidence and firm investment in the third generation semiconductor technology route.

Xu Ke, chairman of Suzhou Nawei Technology Co., LTD., analyzed three reasons why third-generation semiconductors are now in full swing: First, from the point of view of the technology itself, the importance of the third generation of semiconductor technology is self-evident, it promotes the development of the society from the information society to the intelligent society, has been deeply involved in various fields, from national defense, aerospace, to energy conservation, medical, and then to new energy vehicles, mobile phone chargers, and everyone's life is closely related to, inseparable. Such a technology is bound to attract an injection of social capital.

Second, from an international perspective, after experiencing several major technological changes in human history, the development of the third generation of semiconductor technology has gradually become a trend. This is because it is quietly changing the world economic pattern. If a country wants to be stable and its people want to be rich, it is the same truth that advanced technology drives economic development. Therefore, both western developed countries and Asian developing countries are promoting the development of the global third generation semiconductor industry from different levels.

Third, at the domestic level, on the one hand, economic development is shifting to the real economy; On the other hand, the central and local policies are coordinated to promote the development of the third-generation semiconductor industry. This practice of throwing bricks to attract jade will also drive the injection of social capital.

Lu Penghao, analyst of CIDI Consulting, believes that Moore's Law is approaching the physical limit, and the surpassing Moore's Law featuring new materials, new structures and new devices has provided a new development direction for the semiconductor industry. Therefore, the third generation semiconductor has become the strategic commanding point that countries are chasing in the field of integrated circuits, and it has a huge impact on the industrial pattern.

At present, the investment of the third generation semiconductor is increasing, and the industrial chain is gradually improving. At the same time, China is the world's largest semiconductor market, which creates opportunities for Chinese companies to develop third-generation semiconductors. Through resource accumulation, we can break through the innovation chain and value chain from the third generation semiconductor research and development, engineering to application, and bring more vitality to the development of Chinese integrated circuit industry.

The reporter noted that at the first China Zibo "Core Materials, Core Technology, Core Energy" Summit Forum recently, it was reported that Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, will build the first domestic IC material industry base which mainly focuses on the research and development and production of third-generation semiconductor materials, magnetic functional materials, chips and core components of intelligent manufacturing. Not long ago, at the "8th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition International 3rd Generation Semiconductor Professional Competition Smart energy and smart transportation industry Final" held in Shunyi, Beijing, the head of Shunyi District said that they are building into the country and even the world's 3rd generation semiconductor production and research base.

Don't invest for quick success

Behind the investment boom, people in the industry are also worried about whether there will be a rush to "blossom out" as in some industries. Xu Ke told China Electronics News that the third-generation semiconductor industry in many applications is still some conceptual things, not mature, investment must be careful, avoid rushing into the development of the third-generation semiconductor to avoid the idea of quick success. For industries with long chains and many links, the end of the chain is often where the risks and temptations are greatest.

In recent years, people have gradually come to realize this problem, especially the recent trade friction between China and the United States, which makes people more aware of the weakness of the third-generation semiconductor industry chain. Therefore, to develop the third-generation semiconductor industry, we must increase the investment in the R&D of core materials and the development of key equipment in the upstream of the industrial chain. Xu Ke said, "The current development of the third-generation semiconductor industry is in full swing, and local governments are increasing investment and fighting for talent. This will inevitably lead to the bias of resources. This requires us to keep a clear mind, adapt to local conditions, do something and do something, and avoid excessive waste of resources."

Zhu told China Electronics News that behind the investment boom, there must be some questions, such as whether to invest in "products" or "production lines." Because in essence, RF devices and power devices based on third-generation semiconductors have clear product attributes and need to be customized in the context of understanding the needs of the application enterprise, so refining internal work and polishing products and technologies is more important and urgent than direct investment in the production line. You can't expand capacity too early without a clear customer.

"With the rapid development of the early semiconductor lighting (LED) industry, China already has a certain third generation semiconductor industry base and talent reserve. However, the industry must realize that, unlike LED products, third-generation semiconductor RF devices and power devices are more for industrial applications such as 5G base stations and new energy vehicles. They are more customized products, which require more design capabilities and understanding of application solutions." Zhu Shaoxin said.

Lu analyzed the current difficulties of the third generation semiconductor, including how to reduce the defects of substrate, improve yield, and how to achieve large size and low cost. Silicon carbide wafer is faced with microtubule defects, low epitaxial efficiency, special doping process, and high temperature resistance of supporting materials, and gallium nitride wafer is faced with high quality and large size seed crystal acquisition, which are all technical problems that need to be solved.

Cultivate leading to grow bigger and stronger

The development of the third generation semiconductor industry has become the consensus of the industry, and it is the direction of local governments and enterprises to take advantage of the trend. Lu believes that the third generation semiconductor industry will continue to be an industry with heavy investment and long cycle, which will require long-term accumulation and collaboration from industry, academia and other sectors. In terms of industrial development, in addition to policy and financial support, leading enterprises should be cultivated to grow bigger and stronger through mergers and reorganizations, so as to avoid spreading their strength. At the same time, terminal manufacturers should also take advantage of domestic market advantages, actively support the development of domestic third generation semiconductor enterprises.

For domestic development of the third generation semiconductor industry, Xu Ke gave four suggestions: first, policy guidance, market dominance. In key areas and links of development, top-down leadership is needed, and technological development and competitiveness are left to the judgment of the market.

Second, focus on tackling key problems and joint development. China's overall basic strength is not weak, but the distribution of technologies is scattered, we need to jointly develop from the industrial chain, focus on tackling key technologies in common. Third, the proportion of basic research and development investment increased. In order to maintain rapid development and core competitiveness, enterprises must invest in technology development and basic research and development, and also need to continuously increase investment.

Finally, the "get on the horse and go for a ride" mode exists for a certain period of time. Most of the third-generation semiconductor enterprises in China are small, medium and micro enterprises. They may lead the world in technology level and have immeasurable market prospects. However, if they want to dominate the market, especially to compete with international giants, the protection of the government and social forces is also indispensable.

Zhu Shaoxin believes that domestic third-generation semiconductor enterprises must start from their own, combined with their own technology and market advantages, to find the right positioning, such as for 5G communication, new energy vehicles, photovoltaic inverters, consumer electronics power supply, targeted development of their own products.

In particular, he pointed out that local governments need to pay attention to the serious information asymmetry of the implementation of third-generation semiconductor projects, inaccurate judgment of the market positioning and development prospects of third-generation semiconductors, and the lack of sustainability and precision of supporting policies.

(Source: China Electronics News)