Recently, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce issued a document pointing out that Xiu Leiming, the project leader of the third-generation semiconductor SiC laboratory, and Yangcheng Development Zone have initially reached an intentional cooperation agreement.

△Source: Screenshot of the website of Shanxi Provincial Department of Commerce

It is reported that the total investment of the project is 17.5 billion yuan, covering an area of ​​300 acres. The start-up capital is 80 million yuan, and about 2,000 square meters of laboratory, test center, crystal growth room, office area, etc. will be built, and a monthly production capacity of 5,000 silicon carbide power chips will be formed. The core team of the project is composed of well-known semiconductor technology experts and holds more than 250 patents, covering raw material manufacturing, chip manufacturing, IC design, SiP packaging and other fields, and is at the world’s leading technical level.

As for the investor and other specific details of the project, the article did not mention it.

Silicon carbide is the most advanced third-generation semiconductor material in the world. It has excellent physical properties such as high voltage resistance, high frequency and high power. It is the core of satellite communications, high-voltage power transmission and transformation, rail transit, electric vehicles, communication base stations and other important fields. Materials, especially in extreme environmental applications such as aerospace, military industry, and nuclear energy, have irreplaceable advantages.

Since the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”, the third-generation semiconductor material industry in Shanxi Province has continued to grow and develop. Yan Lin, Director of the New Materials Industry Division of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, previously introduced that Shanxi’s third-generation semiconductor silicon carbide single crystal substrate materials are in the Internationally leading level, more than 30,000 pieces will be sold in 2020, and the domestic market share will reach more than 50%.

It is reported that Shanxi Province has the largest silicon carbide material supply base in China – China Electric Power (Shanxi) Silicon Carbide Material Industry Base. The first phase of the project will be officially mass-produced in 2020. After the first phase of the project is put into production, it will have an annual production capacity of 180,000 N-type silicon carbide single crystal wafers and 50,000 high-purity semi-insulating silicon carbide single crystal wafers. Not only has the commercial mass production of high-purity silicon carbide single crystals been achieved, but the purity of high-purity silicon carbide powder and crystal yield are also at the international advanced level.

As a major strategic layout of the cooperation between the central and local governments, after the China Electric Power (Shanxi) silicon carbide material industry base is launched, it will completely break the situation of foreign countries’ blockade of my country’s silicon carbide, and realize the complete independent supply of silicon carbide.

In addition, Shanxi Shuoke Crystal Co., Ltd., established in October 2018, has also achieved domestic independent supply of 5G chip substrate material silicon carbide. According to previous reports from Shanxi Daily, Shanxi Shuoke’s crystalline silicon carbide semiconductor material production capacity ranks first in China, with a market share of more than 50%. The company’s general manager also revealed in an interview with CCTV’s “News Network” in May this year that it is actively deploying fourth-generation semiconductor materials.

The “14th Five-Year Plan for New Materials in Shanxi Province” also mentioned that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the focus will be on the development of materials such as silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, and sapphire, and the introduction of industries such as device design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and application will be accelerated. The chain project was launched in Jinan, and an important national semiconductor R&D and production base was built.