The Third-Generation Semiconductor Industry Is Developing Rapidly

Recently, at the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum "Beijing (International) Third-Generation Semiconductor Innovation and Development Forum", Xiang Libin, member of the party group and deputy minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that the third-generation semiconductors represented by silicon carbide and gallium nitride have excellent performance, there is a huge market in information communication, rail transit, smart grid, new energy vehicles and other fields.

"Overall, the "13th Five-Year Plan" period has basically solved the "whether or not" problem of our country's third-generation semiconductor products and related equipment, and the "14th Five-Year Plan" period will focus on solving "usable, easy-to-use" and sustainable innovation Capability issues.” Xiang Libin said that the Ministry of Science and Technology will focus on key core technologies and major application directions, and focus on breaking through the technical bottlenecks of materials, devices, processes and equipment.

After years of hard work, the global third-generation semiconductor industry is entering a period of rapid growth. Cao Jianlin, chairman of the International Semiconductor Lighting Alliance and director of the Steering Committee of the Third Generation Semiconductor Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance, said: "The wide bandgap semiconductors represented by the third generation semiconductors are widely used in new energy and transportation manufacturing that meet the 'double carbon' goal. Industrial upgrading and optoelectronic application scenarios have become an important engine to promote innovation and upgrading of many industries." Cao Jianlin analyzed that our country's development of third-generation semiconductors already has the basis for technological breakthroughs and coordinated industrial development. The precision manufacturing level and supporting capabilities related to semiconductors have been rapidly improved, laying a solid foundation for the localization of related equipment.

Gan Yong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the National New Material Industry Development Expert Advisory Committee, gave an example that based on the third-generation semiconductor materials and devices, it will lead the disruptive innovative application of high-end power equipment and promote the development of traditional power grids to semiconductor power grids.

The deep integration of the new generation of information technology and industrialization is accelerating, creating a huge space for the development of the integrated circuit industry. For example, the Shunyi District of Beijing has initially formed an industrial chain layout from equipment to materials, chips, modules, packaging and testing, and downstream applications. It has gathered more than 20 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain such as Tyco Tianrun, Guolian Wanzhong, and Ruineng Semiconductor. At the forum, six industrial projects including the second phase of SiC power chips of Guolian Wanzhong signed contracts, with an estimated total investment of nearly 1.8 billion yuan.

The third-generation semiconductor industry is also facing many "growing pains". For example, original innovation and application-oriented basic research capabilities are weak, key equipment and raw materials are still highly dependent on imports, industrial chains and supply chains are still at risk, and there is a lack of open, complete chains, and advanced equipment for third-generation semiconductor research and development pilot tests platform and industrial ecology have not yet been established.

To this end, the third-generation semiconductor industry technology innovation strategic alliance jointly issued an initiative to focus on key market needs and promote the application of "green core" and "healthy core" based on third-generation semiconductor materials in the fields of new energy vehicles, photovoltaic energy storage, and new displays core"; focus on collaborative innovation of the industrial chain, jointly establish an innovation consortium, strengthen public technical service capabilities and standardization capabilities, and form a collaborative innovation situation where industry-university-research cooperation is closely linked, upstream and downstream chains are connected, and large and small enterprises are symbiotically developed.

Wu Ling, chairman of the third-generation semiconductor industry technology innovation strategic alliance, believes that on the one hand, it is necessary to promote demonstration applications, open up the industrial chain, and improve product competitiveness and industry leadership; on the other hand, it is necessary to gather innovative elements and actively promote international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation. , focusing on strengthening in-depth cooperation with small and medium-sized enterprises and R&D teams with mature technologies.