SiC devices & materials market analysis
reduce the cost and make the device more and more attractive. Roughly speaking, today the difference in price of SiC diodes and silicon equivalents is about a factor of five.
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What are the most common uses for these diodes? There are two businesses: one for 600 V and one for
1.2 kV. 600 V is related to everything that you can plug into the wall. For 1.2 kV, it is related to industry. We are also seeing some development of higher voltage diodes, like 1.7 kV and 2.5 kV, for trains and other forms of transport.
Do these SiC diodes and transistors account for a significant proportion of SiC substrate consumption. Or does Cree’s LED manufacture account for more material?
I can’t give you a precise number, but the dominant production is for LEDs. Even if you include the GaN RF devices grown on SiC, something like 90-95 percent of all SiC substrate area is being used for LEDs.
Today, how do shipments of 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch SiC compare?
In 2011, in production, we are seeing the introduction
of 6-inch, but the price remains really high and it is only available from Cree. We think that only a few percent of SiC devices are manufactured on 6-inch substrates, with 90 percent made on 4-inch. If we project to 2018, 60 percent will be 4-inch and 40 percent will be 6-inch, in terms of percentage of square-millimetres processed. 3-inch will disappear – it’s an in-between diameter that nobody wants. 2-inch will probably stay for R&D. It’s good for the first level of qualification.
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What do you expect SiC substrate sales to be by the end of this decade?
We think that in 2020, along with the $1 billion revenue for devices, there will be probably be $350 million for substrates. Today, 50 percent of the cost of the device is the substrate, and by 2020 it will only account for around 30 percent.
Are substrate costs falling fast?
In 2009, based on the 4-inch wafer, the overall device cost – including substrates plus front-end and back-end processing – was $0.30 per square-millimetre. In 2015, it will be less than $0.18 per square-millimetre, based in 6-inch wafers. And we are probably quite
conservative, because we are likely to see the emergence of Dow Corning and II-VI with this material, and that will impact wafer prices.
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What is SiC substrate quality liketoday?
Two or three years ago we were in the phase of material improvement, and now we are in the phase of device improvement. Theoretically the wafers are OK – we know how to make zero-micropipe wafers. However, there are still some issues with Basal Planes and other types of dislocation.
A few years ago, a dozen or so SiC substrate developers were fighting over a relatively small market. Has this led to much consolidation?
No. We don’t see a lot of new entrants, but we don’t see a lot of concentration. The only concentration we have seen is that Rohm has bought SiC Crystal. But I don’t think we need more than five players. That would be an approach like the GaAs business.
Who are the big players in the SiC substrate market?
Cree still dominates, and it is increasing its revenues.
However, its relative market share is decreasing – in 2010 it probably had 40 percent of the business, on both semi-insulating and n-type. It has strong competition on semi-insulating from II-VI, and with n-type substrates, we are about to see Dow Corning moving up. SiC Crystal is now in the hands of Rohm, and it’s very hard to say what it is going to do with that. Up until now Rohm has decided to keep the brand – you can still buy SiC Crystal wafers.
Yole Développement is releasing it next SiC market report this July.
© 2011 Angel Business Communications. Permission required.
June 2011
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 37
Figure 2. Today,
manufacture of SiC power electronics products is mainly performed on 4-inch
substrates. During this decade, production on 6-inch will become more common
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