China's state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) has claimed breakthrough in the core technologies crucial to the country's quest to independently produce compound semiconductor equipment.
As reported by Hunan Daily, the 48th Research Institute under CETC, together with Hunan Chuwei Semiconductor Technology, have undertaken the project and claimed success in achieving a certain level of stability, performance and production capacity in 150mm silicon carbide (SiC) crystal growth equipment and high-energy ion implantation machine. The production equipment developed are said to have been deployed by a domestic SiC substrate maker.
Notably, the CETC is also an integrated part of Chinese military-industrial complex's effort to strengthen microelectronics autonomy. The 48th Research Institute, based in Chnagsha, Hunan, was founded in 1964 and has been a primary R&D base of semiconductor equipment, with recent focus on SiC and gallium nitride (GaN). Hunan Chuwei Semiconductor Technology itself was established by the 48th Research Institute in 2019, and is dedicated to the research and development of semiconductor equipment for 200mm wafer production line.
Chinese media DRAMeXchange reported that 43 such equipment have completed verification, with 95% components sourced domestically. Production capacity has reportedly reached 20,000 wafers per month, with yield at 98%.
China has been aggressively boosting investment in the compound semiconductor sector to prevent further US restrictions. In terms of SiC substrate, though Chinese producers are no match for industry leader Wolfspeed, massive industrial investment in SiC crystal growth equipment and state subsidies have created competitive domestic players like SICC, TankeBlue and Saan Optoelectronics. These companies continue to acquire domestically produced SIC substrate equipment or even develop their own SiC crystal growth furnace, leading to increasing Chinese competence in SiC crystal growth.
In addition, China-based SiC substrate makers, through partnerships with international SiC IDMs like Infineon and STMicroelectronics, are actively seeking them to introduce China-made SiC substrates or establish production factories in China, according to DIGITIMES Research.
