The number of sales of new energy vehicles worldwide is soaring, and in order to differentiate themselves, countries and factories are focusing on the development of silicon carbide (SiC) power components to actively enhance the power performance of electric vehicles; TrendForce indicates that as more and more car manufacturers begin to introduce SiC technology in electric drive systems, the market size will show a rapid growth of 1 times every 2 years. The market will grow at a rapid rate of one times every two years.

According to TrendForce, the current automotive SiC power component market is mainly controlled by European and American IDM makers, and key suppliers STM, ON Semi, Wolfspeed (formerly Cree), Infineon and ROHM have been working in this field for a long time and interacting closely with major car companies and Tier1 manufacturers. The booming automotive market has also made the major manufacturers realize the importance of stable supply capability, so they have been cutting into the upstream substrate materials to try to fully grasp the supply chain.

In addition, the cost of SiC power components has always been a concern for the market, and the key point lies in the upstream substrate materials. The industry is trying to further reduce costs in many ways, including new crystal growth methods (UJ-Crystal, lattice field), high-efficiency wafer processing technologies (Soitec, Disco, Infineon, Xi'an Shengguang SiR), and following the lead of Wolfspeed is moving to 8-inch.

TrendForce emphasizes that as SiC material technology continues to make breakthroughs and the wafer structure and module packaging process become more mature, the penetration rate of SiC power components in the automotive market continues to rise, and gradually extends from the current high-grade models to mid- and low-grade models, thus accelerating the process of automotive electrification.

According to TrendForce, in China, the world's largest electric vehicle market, SAIC, GAC and other car companies have already started to lay out the whole SiC industry chain, which creates great development opportunities for local suppliers. At the same time, car companies such as BYD and Hyundai have launched their own chip research programs, which also injects new vitality into the market.

New trends in the SiC industry: vertical integration is one of them

In yesterday's Semiconductor Industry Insight article, "Korea's first SiC manufacturer to own the entire SiC industry chain", we talked about how SK Group had become another company to control the entire SiC chain through acquisition. According to Yole, a consulting and analysis firm, this has become an important trend in the SiC industry.

Yole's Compound Semiconductor team announced that the market for SiC devices will reach $6.3 billion by 2027. With the trend toward electric vehicles over the past few years, longer range is one of the main demands of customers. However, this in turn has created the need for fast DC charging to reduce waiting times at charging stations. 800V EVs are the solution to meet the demand and begin to penetrate the market in 2021.

Poshun Chiu, technology and market analyst for Yole Compound Semiconductors and Emerging Materials, commented. "SiC is seen as an enabler to provide good efficiency, and supplying 1200V devices is feasible. As more 800V electric vehicles are introduced, SiC is expected to grow rapidly. Meanwhile, charging infrastructure and PV are two markets that support the EV trend. More chargers are needed to support the growing number of EVs, and renewable energy has the same zero CO2 emissions goal as EVs. These are the markets where SiC is gaining more momentum."

SiC market players are working to generate more revenue in this multi-billion dollar business.

For example, companies including STMicroelectronics, Wolfspeed, onsemi and Infineon Technologies have announced their "billion-dollar revenue" goals. Although each player has chosen a different path, similarities in business models can be clearly identified among them.

On the IDM side, their business model is that of a leading manufacturer choosing to supply devices, especially power modules. This business model represents a higher dollar value to increase revenue.

STMicroelectronics is the leading SiC company as their modules have been used in the Tesla Model 3 for years. Their activity is not only at the device level; in fact, STMicroelectronics is demonstrating their in-house 8-inch SiC wafers in 2021.

Another leading SiC company, Onsemi, took a major step forward in 2021 with the acquisition of SiC wafer supplier GT Advanced Technologies. today, Onsemi is working to expand its SiC wafer capacity. Its goal is to support its fast-growing SiC business.

Speaking of the global leader in power electronics, Infineon Technologies achieved an impressive 126% growth in its SiC devices business in 2021, exceeding the average growth rate of 57%. Infineon Technologies' development of the 800V modern Ioniq5 pushed it into the fast lane with its solid base of industrial applications.

Dr. Peter Friedrichs, Vice President Silicon Carbide at Infineon Technologies AG, said: "The efficiency benefits brought by silicon carbide are perfectly matched by the global efforts to save electricity. Adoption rates will increase not only in emerging and new applications such as solar energy conversion or electric vehicle charging, but also in traditional power semiconductor applications. We no longer need to tout the benefits of the technology; these are very well known in the industry - and are now moving to the issue of smart implementation, resulting in long-term cost-performance advantages.

As for Wolfspeed, it is also determined to focus its activities on its SiC business. A few years ago, the company decided to undergo a major restructuring, selling its LED business and expanding its power devices business. With its leadership in SiC wafers, Wolfspeed has now certified its 8-inch wafer fab. The company is moving forward and has increased its growth rate.

Meanwhile, ROHM is expanding device and wafer capacity for vertical integration following its acquisition of SiCrystal a decade ago. ii-VI shared their long-term perspective by demonstrating automotive-compliant 1200V devices and an expanded partnership with General Electric.

These major players have reshaped the SiC ecosystem over the past few years. According to Yole, there are two major trends affecting their supply chains: vertical integration of wafer manufacturing and module packaging to generate more revenue in the coming years. In this context, end-system companies, such as automotive OEMs, are adopting SiC faster and more flexibly to manage supply with multiple wafer suppliers in the market ......

The SiC World Driven by Innovation

An innovative approach to SiC wafers is presented from a technology development perspective. SiC wafers will continue to represent a major portion of SiC device costs through 2022.

Amine Allouche, technology and cost analyst at System Plus Consulting, said in the 2021 SiC Transistor Comparison Report, "SiC virgin wafer costs represent more than 60% of the cost of 1200V SiC MOSFET epitaxial wafers. While SiC wafer capacity has been expanding, there is still a strong incentive to innovate in terms of quality, yield and cost".

8-inch SiC wafers are seen as a key step in scaling up production. The goal is clearly to increase yields and gain an advantage in the next round of competition. Major IDMs are developing their own 8-inch SiC wafer manufacturing capabilities; as of 2022, some wafer suppliers are already shipping samples.

In Yole's power SiC forecasts, 6-inch will remain the leading platform for the next five years. However, initial volumes of 8-inch will begin to roll out in 2022 and will be considered a strategic resource by market participants.

Another approach is to optimize the wafer processing so that more wafers can be produced from a single SiC ingot. solution providers such as DISCO have developed laser dicing systems to increase yields. Infineon Technologies has certified their cold shunt technology.

Some companies have come up with "out-of-the-box" ideas for very different approaches to SiC wafer manufacturing. soitec applies their SmartCut technology to produce SiC wafers with thin layers with lower defect rates and processed wafers with lower resistivity. A Japanese company, Sumitomo Metal Mining, plans to increase its engineered SiC wafers in the next few years. The Swedish startup KISAB offers a wafer-based approach to delivering high-quality SiC wafers. These innovations are likely to accelerate the global growth of SiC in the coming years...

With a multi-billion dollar outlook for the next 5 years in a robust market dominated by EV applications, SiC is expected to enter an increasing number of applications. To achieve this, the evolution of the ecosystem and innovation are the most important factors to watch... IDM is the main business model for SiC. In addition, major SiC vendors are moving along the supply chain to the module level. The strategy is to create value. At the same time, innovation never stops. As a result, new entrants are bringing new ways to improve scale, throughput, quality or cost.

Yole's analysts are convinced that SiC is a fast-growing market.