1. IGBT: the core device in the power electronics industry
IGBT is called the "CPU" of the power electronics industry.
IGBT has excellent overall performance, IGBT is known as insulated gate bipolar transistor, which consists of insulated gate field effect tube and bipolar transistor two parts, both with MOSFET high input impedance, small control power, drive circuit is simple, fast switching speed and BJT on-state current is large, the conduction voltage is reduced, the advantages of low loss, it is the power semiconductor one of the main future direction of development.
With excellent performance, IGBT has a wide range of downstream applications
IGBT has become the first choice for medium and high power, medium and low frequency power electronic equipment by virtue of its high power density, simple drive circuit and wide safe operating area. In the operating frequency range below 105Hz, silicon-based IGBTs are the preferred power semiconductor devices, with a power range of a few kilowatts to ten megawatts. Typical applications include industrial control (frequency converters, inverter welders, uninterruptible power supplies, etc.); new energy automobiles (main electric drives, OBCs, air conditioning, steering, etc.); new energy power generation (photovoltaic inverters, wind turbine converters); inverter white goods (IPM); rail transportation (traction converters); and power generation (wind turbine converters). ); rail transportation (traction converter); smart grid, etc.
IGBT technology development trend
From the perspective of the front gate structure, its structure has experienced the evolution from planar gate to trench gate and the latest micro-trench gate, and the mainstream IGBT chips in the current market are dominated by trench gate. The development of gate structure from planar to trench is conducive to increasing current density, reducing on-state voltage drop, lowering cell size and reducing manufacturing cost.
From the perspective of the body structure, it has experienced three generations of evolution from the Punch Through type (PT, Punch Through) to the Non-Punch Through type (NPT, Non-Punch Through) to the Field Stop type (FS, Field Stop).
Through continuous technology iteration, IGBT chip performance indicators are constantly optimized. From the earliest iteration of Planar Punch-Through (PT) to the fine trench gate Field Stop in 2018, the technical indexes of IGBT chips, such as chip area, process linewidth, on-state voltage drop, turn-off time and power loss, have been continuously optimized.
2. Space: new energy and other driving IGBT demand continues to grow
Global IGBT market size has exceeded 6.6 billion U.S. dollars
The global IGBT market size continues to grow, has now exceeded 6.6 billion U.S. dollars. According to the research organization Omdia's data, the global IGBT market size in the past nearly a decade to maintain sustained growth, from 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 to 6.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, the compound growth rate of the eight-year period in about 10%. Globally, industrial control and new energy vehicles are the two downstream areas with the largest proportion of IGBT demand. Downstream demand (2017 data), industrial control is the largest demand market for IGBT, with a demand share of 37%; new energy vehicles ranked the second largest market, with a demand share of 28%; followed by new energy power generation and inverter white goods market, with a demand share of 9% and 8% respectively.
China's IGBT market size accounted for nearly 40% of the world, and faster growth rate
China's IGBT market size is growing rapidly, and in 2019 it has exceeded 15 billion yuan. According to Wisdom Research Consulting, China's IGBT market size is growing rapidly, from 6 billion yuan in 2012 to 15.5 billion yuan in 2019, with a compound growth rate of about 15%, compared with the growth rate of the global IGBT market size is higher.
Industrial control: IGBT demand basic disk, the future will realize steady growth
IGBT is the core component of traditional industrial control and power supply industries such as inverter, inverter welder, UPS power supply and electromagnetic induction heating. The most commonly used in the field of industrial control inverter, for example, inverter is a fixed voltage, fixed frequency into voltage and frequency can be changed equipment, which is usually by the rectifier part, filtering part, inverter part, braking circuit, drive circuit and detection circuit, etc. IGBT is usually used in the inverter circuit and braking circuit in the inverter, which is mainly used in the application of inverter circuits. The inverter relies on the internal IGBT to adjust the voltage and frequency of the output power supply.
New energy vehicles: the most important incremental market for IGBTs
IGBTs are the core components of new energy vehicles, and they are widely used in new energy vehicles and have a significant impact on the performance of the entire vehicle. the main applications of IGBTs in new energy vehicles include motor controllers, on-board chargers (OBCs), car air conditioners, and DC charging piles for new energy vehicles.
New energy power generation: IGBTs are widely used in the photovoltaic and wind power industries.
Photovoltaic (PV) power generation needs to be connected to the grid through a PV inverter, and IGBTs are the core components of PV inverters. Photovoltaic inverter is one of the key equipments in the solar photovoltaic power generation system, and its role is to convert the direct current generated by photovoltaic power generation into alternating current that meets the power quality requirements of the power grid, and the IGBT is the core component of the photovoltaic inverter.
Inverter white goods: inverter home appliances is also an important application of IGBTs
China's inverter white goods penetration rate is increasing. China's three major white goods sales in recent years has stabilized at 300 million above and below, and with the improvement of energy saving and emission reduction requirements, China's white goods frequency conversion rate is increasing, according to industry online data, in 2021, air conditioning, refrigerators and washing machines frequency conversion rate of 68%, 34% and 46%, respectively, and the future will be further enhanced.
Rail transportation: IGBT is the core device in rail transportation traction
AC drive technology is the mainstream choice and core technology of modern rail transit traction drive. AC drive principle: the vehicle through the pantograph from the contact network to obtain single-phase AC high-voltage power, delivered to the vehicle traction transformer for voltage reduction, and then converted to DC through the rectifier, and then by the inverter will be converted from DC to FM-voltage regulated three-phase AC, and finally delivered to the AC traction motors, the whole process contains the alternating - direct - alternating changes. Advantages of AC transmission: (1) good traction and braking performance; (2) high power factor, harmonic interference is small; (3) motor power, small size, light weight, high operational reliability; (4) good dynamic performance and adhesion utilization.
3. Pattern: high concentration of foreign monopoly, domestic substitution continues to accelerate
IGBT industry has high barriers to entry
From the perspective of industry entry, the entry threshold of the IGBT industry is very high. Overall, the IGBT industry barriers to entry in three areas, respectively, for the technical barriers, market barriers and financial barriers, here we focus on the first two.
Technical barriers: IGBT technology links include the design and manufacture of IGBT chips and module design and manufacture. (1) IGBT chips need to work in high-current, high-voltage and high-frequency environment, the reliability of the chip has high requirements; at the same time, the chip design should also ensure that the turn-on and turn-off, short-circuit resistance and on-off voltage drop balance. Therefore, IGBT chip independent research and development requirements are very high, the design and parameter adjustment and optimization is very special and complex, with a lot of industry know how accumulation. (2) IGBT chip manufacturing link also has a high degree of difficulty, on the one hand, the back of the IGBT chip itself is more difficult, on the other hand, the IDM mode of self-built production capacity requires a very large capital investment, and Fabless mode needs to be realized with the foundry technology and process of the depth of the integration. (3) Module, due to the high degree of integration of the module, and work in high-current, high-voltage, high-temperature and other harsh environments, so in the module design and manufacturing process to realize the module must be considered at the same time insulation, voltage, heat dissipation and electromagnetic interference and many other factors. To realize the high reliability, stability and consistency of IGBT module products also need a long time of industry experience.
Market barriers: IGBT is the core device of downstream application products, IGBT product performance, reliability and stability have a direct impact on the performance of downstream products. As a result, customers have long verification test cycles and high replacement costs when importing IGBTs. Therefore, customers are usually more conservative and cautious in the selection of IGBT, and once selected to make changes and replacement of the will are not strong.
Pattern: IGBT high barriers to the formation of a small number of foreign monopoly pattern
The global IGBT market is currently monopolized by German, Japanese and U.S. companies. Due to the high entry threshold of the IGBT industry, and foreign manufacturers of the business started early, first-mover advantage is obvious (Infineon's first-generation IGBT products were born in 1988), so the formation of the current IGBT market monopoly by German, Japanese and U.S. companies in the situation, the current global IGBT top five vendors, respectively, Infineon, Mitsubishi, Fuji Electric, ON Semiconductor and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). And Infineon, Mitsubishi, Fuji Electric and ON Semiconductor are IDM mode, vertical integration of the entire industry chain of upstream, downstream, and established a strong moat.
Changes in the pattern: domestic progress + supply chain security to promote domestic substitution gear shift acceleration
Intrinsic reasons for the acceleration of domestic substitution: (1) IGBT as a power semiconductor period, its technology iteration is slower, the cycle is longer, the use of a generation of products for a very long time, more than a decade; and customers are mainly looking for the stability and reliability of the IGBT products, the pursuit of new technologies is not high (Infineon launched in 2007, the fourth generation of the IGBT chip is still the current industry's main products). ). Therefore, although the domestic IGBT manufacturers started late, but the industry has left the local IGBT manufacturers enough time to develop and catch up, the current domestic IGBT manufacturers faster technological progress, there are already products to meet the needs of downstream customers in large quantities. (2) Local IGBT companies have better service, can quickly respond to the needs of downstream customers, and the price of the product has a certain advantage over foreign investors, which is conducive to downstream customers to reduce costs.
4. Silicon carbide - third-generation semiconductor power devices promising
Silicon carbide material has superior performance
Common semiconductor materials, including silicon, germanium and other elemental semiconductors, as well as gallium arsenide, silicon carbide, gallium nitride and other compound semiconductor materials, according to the research and large-scale application of time successively, the industry is usually semiconductor materials are divided into three generations:
The first generation of semiconductor materials: silicon and germanium as a representative, the typical application is integrated circuits. Silicon semiconductor materials is currently the largest production, the most widely used semiconductor materials.
The second generation of semiconductor materials: gallium arsenide as a representative. Gallium arsenide electron mobility is more than 6 times that of silicon, and its devices have high-frequency and high-speed optoelectronic performance, so they are widely used in the field of optoelectronics and microelectronics.
The third generation of semiconductor materials: represented by silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Compared with the first two generations of semiconductor materials, silicon carbide has a large forbidden band width, high breakdown field strength, high thermal conductivity, high electron saturation rate and strong radiation resistance, etc. It is suitable for high-voltage, high-frequency and high-temperature scenarios, and is especially suited for the manufacture of high-power semiconductor devices in the field of power electronics.
Silicon carbide devices also outperform silicon-based devices
Silicon carbide power devices based on silicon carbide have superior electrical performance due to the excellent properties of the material:
High-voltage resistance: The breakdown field strength of silicon carbide materials is ten times that of conventional silicon-based materials, so the high-voltage resistance of silicon carbide power devices is significantly stronger than that of silicon-based power devices of the same specification;
High temperature resistance: on the one hand, the thermal conductivity of silicon carbide is more than three times that of silicon material, so it has better heat dissipation ability and maintains lower temperature under the same power condition, thus reducing the requirements of device heat dissipation design, which is conducive to improving the degree of integration, and making the device develop in the direction of miniaturization. On the other hand, the forbidden bandwidth of silicon carbide is more than three times that of silicon, and the wider the forbidden bandwidth, the higher the limiting operating temperature of the device (the semiconductor device will generate carrier intrinsic excitation phenomenon at high temperatures, which will result in the failure of the device), therefore, the limiting operating temperature of silicon carbide power devices can reach more than 600 ℃, compared with the current silicon-based IGBTs that generally operate at 175 ℃.
Low loss: Silicon carbide saturation electron drift speed is more than twice that of silicon, so silicon carbide devices have lower on-resistance and low on-loss; there is no current drag in silicon carbide devices, and switching loss is also lower than that of silicon-based devices, and higher switching frequency can also be realized.
Silicon carbide industry will usher in rapid development
Driven by the application of new energy vehicles, the silicon carbide device market will grow rapidly. According to Yole's forecast, benefiting from the silicon carbide in new energy vehicles, industrial and energy and other areas of demand growth, the global silicon carbide device market will grow from 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 to more than 6 billion U.S. dollars in 2027, compound growth rate will be as high as 34%; of which the automotive silicon carbide device market will grow from 685 million U.S. dollars in 2021 to 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2027, compound growth rate of up to 40%. The market for automotive silicon carbide devices will grow from $685 million in 2021 to about $5 billion in 2027, with a compound growth rate of up to 40%, and the market size of automotive silicon carbide devices will account for about 80% of the total market size of silicon carbide devices by 2027.