The cost can be reduced by 10%, and Japan pushes the new technology of silicon carbide substrate

According to Nikkei Chinese website reports, Japan's Central Glass has developed a new manufacturing technology for the power semiconductor material "silicon carbide (SiC)" substrate.

According to reports, Central Nitrate has developed a technology that uses a solution containing silicon and carbon (liquid phase method) to manufacture SiC substrates. Compared with the traditional technique of using SiC sublimed at high temperature to grow single crystals (sublimation method), the liquid phase method has more advantages in increasing the size and improving the quality of the substrate. This technology can reduce the substrate manufacturing cost by more than 10%, and the yield will be greatly improved.

Due to the complexity of preparing SiC substrate by liquid phase method, this technology has not been used in actual production. Using computer-based computational chemistry, Central Nitrate successfully produced a 6-inch SiC substrate by calculating the dynamics of the solution. Based on this, the company intends to expand the size to 8 inches as early as 2030.

It is understood that since April 2022, Central Nitrate has begun to use the liquid phase method to research and develop SiC wafers.

In April this year, Central Nitrate announced that its "high-quality 8-inch SiC single crystal/wafer manufacturing Technology Development" project passed the review and was considered a Green Innovation Fund project by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan (project period from fiscal year 2022 to 2029). The project will be followed by funding from NEDO, a development that will help Central Nitrate accelerate the development of an 8-inch SiC substrate.

The report pointed out that in order to allow customers to use the SiC substrate made with new technology, Central Nitrate has begun to discuss with large semiconductor companies in Europe and the United States. Central Glass will begin providing samples to customers as early as the summer of 2024, with commercialization in 2027-2028. The company will invest billions of yen in its domestic plants, aiming to increase its market share to more than 10 percent.