Shen Lu
Infineon Industrial Power Control Division
Senior Marketing Director, Greater China
Infineon has been actively promoting innovation, and innovation in the field of power devices has made us the number one market share for 18 consecutive years. Whether from the perspective of innovation or corporate social responsibility, Infineon spares no effort to make its own contribution in the field of silicon carbide.
According to Yole's forecast, the silicon carbide market size is expected to exceed $2.5 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 30%, of which renewable energy and new energy vehicles are very promising application areas of silicon carbide. Infineon has been working on silicon carbide since 1992 and for 30 years, Infineon has been continuously polishing and precipitating technology to help new materials grow rapidly in new applications. Infineon's CoolSiC™ has been commercial for 21 years now, and in the future, CoolSiC™ siC devices will continue to make great achievements in the three major sectors of industry and electric vehicles: photovoltaic and energy storage, charging facilities and various power supply applications.
Review of Infineon's path to silicon carbide:
- Since 1992, Infineon has been working on silicon carbide
- In 1998, Infineon began the integration of 2-inch wafer technology on high-volume silicon power lines
- In 2001, Infineon became the first manufacturer in the world to introduce silicon carbide diodes, and has since started the commercial use of silicon carbide
- In 2015, the production of silicon carbide from 4-inch to 6-inch wafers was realized
- In 2017, a 1200V Silicon Carbide MOSFET was released
- In 2018, cold cutting technology for silicon carbide wafers was acquired through the acquisition of Siltectra
- In 2019, a 1200V vehicle grade silicon carbide MOSFET was released
- In 2020,
- In the field of photovoltaics, the EasyPACK3B™SiC hybrid module has been customized for the Chinese market according to customer needs.
- The Silicon Carbide HybridPACK™ Drive Module is publicly available to the global automotive industry
- Released 1200V IPM Silicon Carbide Module
- In 2022, Infineon will expand its production capacity in third-generation semiconductors and will invest more than 2 billion euros (a total of about 14.4 billion yuan) to expand the production capacity of SiC and GaN
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How do Infineon's silicon carbide solutions stand out?
Over the years, Infineon has accumulated extensive experience in the mass production of siC devices, and has set up a special in-house SI CARBID acceleration program. Whether it is a new product launch or a target market coverage, Infineon is showing an increasingly active trend. Infineon has launched 200 CoolSiC™ products, more than 130 models developed for the innovative needs of customers, and more than 3,000 active customers worldwide.
On the one hand, Infineon defines products and solutions that meet market needs through close communication and cooperation with customers through a deep understanding of systems and applications. Infineon offers its customers and partners differentiated innovations, rich topologies and flexible chip configurations.
On the other hand, Infineon continues to develop new technologies, and in the field of CoolSiC™ products, Infineon's industrial grade and automotive grade solutions are developed in parallel, spanning 600V to 1700V specifications, while developing towards higher voltage levels to provide customers with comprehensive system-level solutions.
In terms of the supply chain that has attracted much attention, in recent years, Infineon has continued to increase investment in strengthening the supply guarantee of silicon carbide, including increasing the pre-processing capacity of silicon carbide through the Villach plant, signing long-term supply contracts, and improving production efficiency to ensure supply. In addition, Infineon uses cold cutting technology to improve wafer production efficiency and ensure supply security
With years of innovative R&D experience, comprehensive and flexible solutions, volume production and customer service capabilities, Infineon's related revenue has been growing in recent years.
Face the challenge:
First of all, silicon carbide is different from traditional silicon in terms of material and process characteristics, and the guarantee of quality and reliability is the primary problem that all manufacturers need to face. Using the latest technology, Through nearly 30 years of research and development and practice, Infineon has finally explored a set of long-term and more strategic advantages of the technical route, and in 2021 launched a white paper on silicon carbide reliability research, which comprehensively sorted out the reliability of SiC MOSFET for customers.
Second, emerging technologies are bound to need more exploration in terms of application. The ability to apply silicon carbide technology requires more thinking and practice from the traditional experience and thinking derived from the use of silicon devices. While providing technical services to leading customers and leading designs in mature industries, Infineon is also actively participating in early pre-research projects in emerging industries and is committed to expanding the application of silicon carbide.
Seize the opportunity:
Send charcoal in the field of hydrogen fuel cells
At present, hydrogen fuel cells are ushering in a stage of development from growth to maturity, and the rapid growth period of the industry may not be far away. In this application, the speed of the high-speed air compressor will reach more than 100,000 revolutions, and it is more difficult to achieve a high-speed motor of more than 30kW by silicon devices alone, so the development and maturity of silicon carbide is undoubtedly a charcoal in the snow for the hydrogen fuel cell industry. At the same time, silicon carbide is also the best choice for fuel cell high-power DC-DC converters.
The outlook in the automotive sector is positive
In the automotive field, the role played by silicon carbide products is a good extension or supplement to silicon devices. For example, four-wheel drive high-power premium cars and high-end SUVs and other models with long cruising range and relatively large battery capacity usually require high-power support, and the use of silicon carbide as the main drive design helps to improve power density and effectively reduce battery load or effective range. The performance of silicon carbide products developed by Infineon is excellent in this regard. Infineon's HybridPACK™ Drive vehicle grade silicon carbide modules have been mass-produced in the inverter system of a major Asian electric vehicle manufacturer; CoolSiC™ hybrid discretes have been used in the OBC platforms of several international OEMs for mass production; and Infineon's CoolSiC™ Schottky diodes have been used in the OBC system of an automotive platform in Europe and have been mass-produced.
Continue to create value for customers in Greater China
Infineon Greater China deeply understands the application needs of the silicon carbide industry, relies on a large localized application technology team, improves the technical service capabilities of silicon carbide applications, and continuously innovates and develops emerging applications. At the same time, Infineon also actively builds an industrial collaboration ecosystem, cooperates with Chinese customers for win-win results, holds silicon carbide application technology development forums over the years, and releases a white paper on silicon carbide reliability research to promote the common growth of the entire industry chain and continue to create value for customers.
Relying on a large localized application technology team, we provide silicon carbide application technical service capabilities
In the face of the challenges of climate change and resource scarcity, population and social change, along with the trend of urbanization and digital transformation, it is the trend to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and make energy management more efficient and intelligent. Silicon carbide is the key to opening the door to efficient energy efficiency and achieving carbon neutrality. Under the trend wave, Infineon will further strengthen its technological leadership in the field of silicon carbide and contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality.
Source: Infineon Official Micro