Semiconductor products can be divided into integrated circuits, discrete devices and other categories, among which semiconductor power devices are an important part of discrete devices. Discrete devices refer to the basic circuit elements with a single function, which mainly realize the processing and transformation of electric energy. Discrete devices mainly include power diodes, power transistors, thyristors, MOSFETs, IGBTs and other products. Among them, the current market is more concerned and the volume is relatively large is IGBT.
"IGBT" stands for insulated gate bipolar transistor. IGBT module is a modular semiconductor product that is packaged by IGBT chip and FWD (freewheeling diode chip) through a specific circuit bridge. The IGBT module has the characteristics of energy saving, convenient installation and maintenance, and stable heat dissipation. At present, most of the modular products sold on the market are such modular products. Generally speaking, the IGBT also refers to the IGBT module.
IGBT is the core device for energy conversion and transmission, commonly known as the "CPU" of power electronic devices. The use of IGBT for power conversion can improve the efficiency and quality of power consumption. It has the characteristics of high efficiency and energy saving and green environmental protection. It is to solve the problem of energy shortage and reduce carbon. The key supporting technology for emissions.
The current development direction is mainly structural changes, as well as the improvement of silicon wafer processing technology, packaging technology, etc. The development trend is to reduce losses and reduce production costs. At present, silicon-based semiconductor materials are close to their physical limits under their material properties. The third-generation compound semiconductor materials have quickly entered the industrialization process. The preparation, manufacturing process and device physics of wide-bandgap semiconductor materials represented by SiC and GaN are rapidly develop.
02 Power device market
The semiconductor market itself is very hot, but power devices are more popular than semiconductors. Made in China 2025, the core is power devices. As a national strategic emerging industry, IGBTs are widely used in the fields of rail transit, smart grid, aerospace, electric vehicles and new energy equipment.
In the field of new energy vehicles: IGBT modules account for nearly 10% of the cost of electric vehicles and about 20% of the cost of charging piles. In the field of new energy vehicles, it is mainly used in A) electric control system high-power DC/AC (DC/AC) inverter to drive the car motor; B) car air-conditioning control system low-power DC/AC (DC/AC) inverter, use IGBT and FRD with smaller current; C) The IGBT module in the charging pile intelligent charging pile is used as a switching element.
Smart grid field: Applied to the power generation side, rectifiers and inverters in wind power generation and photovoltaic power generation all require the use of IGBT modules. At the transmission end, FACTS flexible transmission technology in UHV DC transmission requires a large amount of power devices such as IGBTs. At the transformer end, IGBT is a key component of the power electronic transformer (PET). Consumers, household white electricity, microwave ovens, LED lighting drivers, etc. all have a large demand for IGBTs.
Rail transit field: mainstream power electronic devices for rail transit vehicle traction converters and various auxiliary converters.
Experts estimate that the entire IGBT market will be around US$10 billion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of over 15%. Foreign companies that develop IGBT devices mainly include Infineon, ABB, Mitsubishi, Ximen Kang, Toshiba, and Fuji. China's power semiconductor market accounts for more than 50% of the world market, but in the mid-to-high-end MOSFET and IGBT mainstream device market, 90% mainly relies on imports, which are basically monopolized by foreign, European, American, and Japanese companies.
IGBT has a very wide range of voltages, from 400V to 6500V. Therefore, it is difficult for manufacturers to monopolize a market. Most manufacturers choose their own areas of expertise.
Infineon, Mitsubishi, and ABB have an absolute advantage in the field of industrial IGBTs with voltage levels above 1700V; they are almost monopolized in the field of high-voltage IGBT technology with voltage levels above 3300V. Ximenkang, Fairchild, etc. are in an advantageous position in the field of consumer IGBTs with voltage levels of 1700V and below.
03 Industrial distribution and key enterprises
In recent years, China's IGBT industry has formed a complete IGBT industrial chain of IDM mode and foundry mode, and the process of IGBT localization has accelerated. Wide bandgap materials represented by SiC and GaN have the advantage of breaking through the performance limits of traditional silicon devices. , It is highly strategic and forward-looking. The technical barrier lies in the preparation of materials, and the technological gap between domestic and foreign technologies is constantly narrowing.
From the perspective of the domestic area, the Bohai Sea Rim is Beijing and Tianjin. Beijing Yizhuang has realized the gathering of SMIC, North China Innovation, Verizon, Infineon, Chipone North, Huazhuo Jingke and other enterprises, opening up the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and forming The complete integrated circuit industry chain of components and materials, design, etc. gathers nearly a hundred upstream and downstream enterprises, and there are also some foundries in Tianjin. There is only Xi'an in the west, Xi'an has Xinpai, Aipark, Yongdian and so on.
The strongest is in Jiangsu Province, concentrated in Wuxi and Suzhou, especially Wuxi. The Whampoa Military Academy, known as China's integrated circuit, has already developed many components, whether it is a foundry or a design company, many of them are in Wuxi. Shenzhen is stronger on the power device application side, and some small foundries have also begun to make power devices.
Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric: The only domestic company that independently mastered the high-speed rail power IGBT chip and module technology, focusing on 1200V-6500V high-voltage modules, building its own semiconductor business unit IGBT park, with IGBT chip lines and supporting module packaging lines.
BYD: Focus on industrial-grade IGBT modules and automotive-grade IGBT modules, with a market share of 18% in 2019, second only to Infineon. In 2020, the semiconductor business will be integrated and the "BYD Semiconductor Co., Ltd." will be established. It is planned that the proportion of external supply of IGBTs will exceed 50%. In 2020, the IGBT project with a total investment of 1 billion yuan will be started in Changsha, and a production line with an annual output of 250,000 8-inch wafers will be designed.
Silan Micro: a leading domestic manufacturer of IGBT products, mainly 300-600V punch-through IGBT process, 1200V non-punch-through slot gate IGBT process, is one of the few domestic companies that have developed from a pure chip design company to an IDM model (design Integrated with manufacturing) is a comprehensive semiconductor product company with its main development model. One of the markets targeted by the company's IGBT products is the consumer-grade white power field.
Jilin China Micro: Integrating IGBT design, processing, packaging and testing, there are multiple power semiconductor discrete devices and IC chip production lines, the top five domestic semiconductor power devices, and the first listed company in this field.
Zhonghuan: The main business is the production and sales of semiconductor discrete devices, monocrystalline silicon and silicon wafers. In 2015, IGBTs for consumer electronics have been mass-produced, high-voltage IGBTs are still being developed, and energy-saving power devices can be used in charging piles.
Xi'an Yongdian: 1200V-6500V/75A-2400A high-voltage module, mainly for high-voltage fields such as rail transit and smart grid
Zhongke Junxin: A Sino-foreign joint venture company focusing on the research and development of electronic chips such as IGBT and FRD. It is the only domestic enterprise that fully masters the 650V-6500V full-voltage IGBT chip technology for electromagnetic induction heating, frequency conversion household appliances, inverter welding machines, industrial inverters, New energy and other fields. It is the first domestic enterprise to develop the trench gate field cut-off technology and achieve mass production.
Jiejie Microelectronics: In the field of domestic power semiconductor devices, thyristor devices and chip chip IDM (integrated component manufacturers, that is, covering the entire chip industry chain, integrating chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing) semiconductor manufacturers. The main business power semiconductor devices accounted for 49.92%, and power semiconductor chips accounted for 35.11%.
Star Semiconductor: The eighth largest IGBT module supplier in the world, and the only Chinese company that has entered the world's TOP10 ranking. The main business is the design, development and production of IGBT-based power semiconductor chips and modules, and sales in the form of IGBT modules. The IGBT chip and fast recovery diode chip independently developed and designed by the company are one of the company's core competitiveness.
04 Investment Trends
Because of the hot IGBT market, Germany's Infineon Technology, which has the largest global share, invested 1.6 billion euros to build a new factory in Austria, which is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2021. ON Semiconductor’s New York plant will invest US$430 million by the end of 2022. Toshiba will invest about 80 billion yen to increase production capacity by 2023, and Fuji Electric will also invest 120 billion yen at home and abroad by 2023.
Silan Micro's 12-inch characteristic process semiconductor chip manufacturing production line project has just been put into production, and the second phase of 12 billion is on the way. Star Semiconductor plans to invest 229 million yuan to build a full silicon carbide module industrialization project in Jiaxing. China Resources Micro intends to build a power semiconductor packaging and testing base project to lay out advanced semiconductor power device packaging production lines. Yangjie Technology raised 1.5 billion yuan to invest in semiconductor chip packaging and testing projects. Wingtech's total investment of 10 billion Wuxi ODM smart super factory and R&D center and Shanghai Lingang 12-inch automotive-grade power semiconductor automated wafer manufacturing center with a total investment of 12 billion. In addition, companies such as Nitrogen Silicon Technology, Ugallium Technology, Zhizhan Technology, Chaoxinxing Semiconductor, Tongguang Crystal, and Zhanxin Electronics have all received financing of different sizes.
Many domestic listed companies have also officially announced that they will enter the IGBT market and increase the IGBT business. For example, Taiji shares have built a packaging and testing line, invested in Puluan Semiconductor, and deployed IGBT chip design and foundry related businesses.