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The United States' "extreme blow" to China's semiconductor industry. Under this situation, the development of China's semiconductor industry may need to fully establish its own underlying logic, architecture and system. Overall, China needs to establish a self-reliance and self-improvement thinking in every link of semiconductors. Among them, the materials are the basis. The third generation of semiconductor material should be a key for China to strengthen breakthroughs. As the saying goes, materials are the basis of all technologies, "one generation of materials, one generation of technologies, one generation of industries."
Not long ago, Deputy Dean of the School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, , Professor Liu Bin, , explained in detail the characteristics, industrial applications and development prospects of the third generation of semiconductor materials in his external speech. The highlight content is shared as follows:
First-generation Materials Industry
From the perspective of the development of the semiconductor industry, from the 1940s and 1950s, from silicon germanium to integrated circuits, including transistor and silicon crystal , gradually formed an industry of hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars. This is the first generation of semiconductor materials; in the 1960s and 1970s, the rise of Group III-V compound semiconductors, namely the second generation of semiconductor materials represented by potassium arsenide and indium phosphide , were mainly used in semiconductor components such as radio frequency electronics and infrared lasers, which overall promoted the transformation of the communications industry.
Currently, it is the third generation of semiconductor materials. It originated in the 1980s and 1990s. It is mainly a wide bandgap semiconductor represented by potassium nitride and silicon carbide , as well as ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors such as potassium oxide and diamond . According to the advantages of material characteristics, it is applied to radio frequency electronics, power electronics, solid-state chemical components, and display industries. Components made of third-generation semiconductor materials are promoting the development of industries in the fields of lighting, display, 5G communication and other power electronics.
Overall, the third generation semiconductor material has the following characteristics: high efficiency. For example, high-energy light effects in power devices. LED has replaced the original incandescent lamp and fluorescent lamp, which mainly reflects the characteristics of high light efficiency. In addition, it is full spectrum . gallium nitride , silicon carbide, etc., in a wide band gap environment, covers a wide band of light and forms a full spectrum of emission and detection. In terms of power electronics, wide bandgap semiconductors, due to their excellent properties, have high power, high voltage and high frequency resistance, and can operate at higher purity and at higher temperatures. Therefore, in terms of its characteristics, the third-generation semiconductor materials are mainly used in the three major fields of power electronics, optoelectronics and radio frequency electronics, becoming a new semiconductor industry and are emerging and breaking through.
Specific application of third-generation semiconductor materials
Third-generation semiconductor technology is also an important area of global high-tech competition: in 2004, the United States first launched a plan based on third-generation semiconductors. In 2009, EU made third-generation semiconductors the focus of research and development. Made in China 2025, as well as the outline of the "Fourth Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 Vision Goals, both emphasize the development of the third generation wide bandgap semiconductors. As for the United States, in order to suppress China's technological development, its Ministry of Commerce recently added four new export restrictions. In addition to EDA design software, it also restricts the export of four materials such as ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors such as diamonds and oxidants to China. In addition, , , , Western countries, is also strictly prohibited from China by . Specifically, since the third-generation semiconductors are mainly used in power chips, radio frequency chips, optoelectronic chips, display chips, sensing chips, etc., the industries involved include semiconductor lighting, new displays, new generation 5G communications, new energy vehicles, rail transit, and radar . These applications are of great strategic significance to my country's industrial upgrading, energy conservation and emission reduction, national security, etc.
First, RF electronics field: This is the core device supporting the new generation of mobile communication technology.In the past, communication radio frequency was gallium arsenide . As communication moved from 5G to 6G, the third-generation semiconductor was the only optional semiconductor material. Therefore, communication companies such as the Internet, 5G/ artificial intelligence , etc., are promoting the industrial development of high-frequency electronic devices.
Second, new energy vehicles and high-speed rail fields: power devices based on silicon carbide are also a necessary device and material application for upgrading. In high-speed rail transit, replacing the power module based on silicon carbide can reduce the volume by 20%, weight by 20%, and energy consumption by 20%.
Third, lighting and display field: The lighting industry of the third generation semiconductor LED is an important industry in our country. GaN-based lighting technology is already extremely large in China. Through LED lighting, our country has achieved 200 billion kWh of electricity saving, which greatly contributes to energy conservation and emission reduction. At present, the focus is on gallium nitride LED, expanding and applying to near-infrared, ultraviolet wavelength and shorter wavelength bands. By 2026, the market size of ultraviolet LED can reach 10 billion.
It is fourth. Military field: RF power devices are the basis of radar resonance. To achieve ultra-long-distance military reconnaissance, including electronic interference and confrontation, especially in the development of millimeter wave and ultra-high-power devices, a new generation of radars such as gallium nitride must be used. THAAD, the United States, is replacing gallium nitride power devices, which can increase the detection distance, reaching 3,000 kilometers.
So, generally speaking, the third generation semiconductor is one of the key technologies of our country's new devices. It has a wide range of applications in 5G communication, artificial intelligence, metaverse, data centers, rail transit, etc. In addition, in terms of energy conservation and emission reduction, China will reach its carbon peak in 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality in by 2060. The third-generation semiconductors also have great potential in energy conservation, especially in the future, the energy efficiency of infrastructure, data centers and 5G base stations will be greatly improved.
Development trend of third-generation semiconductors in China
As for the development of third-generation semiconductors in China, from the application scale of silicon carbide and gallium nitride, there will be a significant increase in overall by 2025. From the perspective of the third-generation semiconductor innovation chain and industrial chain, the main aspect is the material aspect, substrate to epitaxial, then to design, chip, packaging, application, from the perspective of technology chain and innovation chain, substrate, epitaxial, and chip are three links, which are the most prominent. At present, silicon carbide is still mainly moving towards large sizes. Now 4-inch silicon carbide has gradually withdrawn from the market, and is currently mainly 6-inch. The mainstream GaN products are 2-inch, and in the next three to five years, they will be 4-inch substrates, gradually occupying the mainstream.
Profile of Dean Liu Bin: is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Electronics of Nanjing University. He is selected as a special professor of Changjiang Scholars of the Ministry of Education, a young and young Yangtze River Scholars of , and a national youth. He also serves as a national integrated circuit of Nanjing University, a national integrated circuit of production and education integration innovation platform, deputy director of the Optoelectronic Chip Engineering Center of the Ministry of Education, and a member of the Micro-LED display device special committee such as the China Optoelectronics Industry Association. The main research areas are Group III nitride semiconductor materials and devices, and new Micro-LED display technology. In recent years, it has focused on the growth, device preparation and mechanism research of gallium nitride-based Micro-LED materials. It has cooperated with leading companies such as Huawei and Tianma Microelectronics to develop high-density automotive-based Micro-LED chips, and quantum dots integrate full-color Micro-LED devices. He presided over the national key research and development special projects and projects, the National Natural Science Foundation of China project , the Jiangsu Province cutting-edge leading technology project, and participated in the National Natural Science Foundation Innovation Group Project, the Ministry of Science and Technology's "973" and "863" plan and other projects. The results were published in academic journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, IEEE EDL/T-ED/PTL, and published a total of more than 180 papers, and applied for/authorized more than 660 invention patents for , including 9 patents transferred/licensed, and participated in the compilation of 5 monographs/chapters; he won the first prize of natural sciences in the Ministry of Education, the first prize of technological invention, the first prize of China's industry-university-research cooperation and the personal innovation award.
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