What is the magic of the third generation of semiconductor materials? Actually let the United States veto the Chinese acquisition of Lumileds

The third generation of semiconductor materials has become the slogan of the next game. Around this, enterprises and governments are "competitive".

In late January, the US Foreign Investment Committee rejected a proposal by Chinese investors to acquire a lighting business of a subsidiary of Philips for 2.9 billion.

Behind this, what the US government wants to stop is not the lighting business itself acquired by Chinese investors, but to prevent Chinese investors from acquiring the GaN of the third-generation semiconductor materials after acquiring the lighting business of Philips' subsidiaries. technology.

The development of semiconductor materials has been three generations: the first generation of semiconductor materials are represented by germanium and silicon, and are widely used in the field of integrated circuit manufacturing. The second generation of semiconductor materials are represented by gallium arsenide and indium phosphide, mainly used in light. Emitter-based optoelectronic subsystems such as optical display, optical communication, and optical storage; third-generation semiconductor materials are represented by gallium nitride, silicon carbide, and diamond, and have a wide band gap, strong atomic bonds, and high thermal conductivity. Rate, high melting point (1700 degrees Celsius), corrosion resistance and so on. Especially in the case that the power devices of traditional materials have reached the material limit, it has been difficult to meet the new demands of high frequency, high temperature, high power, high efficiency, miniaturization, etc., and gallium nitride can rely on its material properties in optoelectronics. High-temperature, high-power devices and high-frequency microwave devices are replaced by applications.

It is precisely because of this, many countries and enterprises are committed to the development and production of GaN power devices. It can be said that GaN has been at the forefront and hot spot of global semiconductor research.

Due to the excellent material properties of GaN - GaN-based LEDs are smaller, more powerful, and more radiant than traditional LEDs, making them a space for LED TVs, displays, and general lighting. Once China completes its holdings of Lumileds, a subsidiary of Philips, it is possible to acquire technology related to GaN.

More importantly, GaN has 10 times the power density of high-frequency and high-power applications than existing GaAs devices, and can be widely used not only in communication base stations, electric motors, electric vehicles, wind power generation, etc. The field can also be used in special fields such as phased array radar.

In China, the third-generation wide-bandgap semiconductor technology with greater market space has gradually become the next competitive space for LED chip companies.

Xie Mingxun, deputy general manager of the Crystal Power R&D Center, said that the high demand for the lighting application market is actually only an illusion. The truth is that the price war has caused the profits to drop sharply in recent years. In order to seek better profits, Jingdian is actively preparing to invest in the market of GaN LED power components; currently, the market size of GaN power components is only about one-third of the overall lighting market.

In recent years, Sanan Optoelectronics has also begun to make frequent efforts in the field of third-generation semiconductor materials.

Yan Fan, a researcher at China Merchants Securities, believes that Sanan Optoelectronics will build the integrated circuit industry with III-V semiconductors such as gallium arsenide and gallium nitride as the core, and plans to build an annual output of 300,000 GaAs and 60,000 GaN 6-inch production lines. . At present, Sanan's 5,000-unit/month GaAs Phase I has already started trial production. It is expected to be mass-produced next year, and GaN production line equipment is gradually in place.

“Sanan’s development strategy is very clear, and its main layout is three directions: firstly, it will continue to consolidate the leading position of LED chips, expand production capacity and optimize product structure; secondly, compound semiconductors will gradually develop to IDM from processing and manufacturing; third is active. Expand the application areas of products and develop high value-added application products, such as LED intelligent lighting communication (LiFi) products, vehicle networking system products, photoelectric intelligent monitoring products and other integrated circuit applications," said Guo Yuan Securities researcher Ms.

Mr. Ye Aimin, the director of Huacan Optoelectronics, was also convinced that Huacan Optoelectronics will expand into the field of semiconductor materials other than LEDs. The vision and current business scope of Huacan Ventures has always been semiconductor materials and devices, not limited to LED materials and chips.

"Hua Can has been the 10th anniversary of its establishment. The executive team has always been a technical expert. It is very familiar with the development direction and application prospects of the entire semiconductor industry including LED." Ye Aimin said that the development and application of compound semiconductors are only Just beginning, there is limitless possibilities in the future.

In addition, GaN power devices on silicon substrates are also an important application area, and it is expected to open up a new application field beyond traditional power devices.

"We believe that silicon GaN may become the mainstream in 2017. Other companies will also put products using GaN-on-Si technology on the market." Toshiba White LED Market and Technology Senior manager Gao Qiaowang told Gaogong LED.

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