China plans huge investment in next-generation chips

[antonius123]

China plans huge investment in next-generation chips: Report
Facing pressure from the US, China wants to develop its own chip-making technology, sources tell Bloomberg.

Bloomberg
4 Sept 2020

Chinese firms such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, whose chips are seen here, Will Semiconductor Ltd and National Silicon Industry Group Co could benefit from the government's new push [File; Qilai Shen/Bloomberg]
China is planning a sweeping set of new government policies to develop its domestic semiconductor industry and counter Trump administration restrictions, conferring the same kind of priority on the effort it accorded to building its atomic capability, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Beijing is preparing broad support for so-called third-generation semiconductors for the five years through 2025, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing government deliberations. A suite of measures to bolster research, education and financing for the industry has been added to a draft of the country's 14th five-year plan, which will be presented to the country's top leaders in October, the people said.
China's top leaders will gather next month to lay out their economic strategy for the next half decade, including efforts to ramp up domestic consumption and make critical technology at home. President Xi Jinping has pledged an estimated $1.4 trillion through 2025 for technologies ranging from wireless networks to artificial intelligence. Semiconductors are fundamental to virtually every component of China's technology ambitions -- and an increasingly aggressive Trump administration threatens to cut off their supply from abroad.
"The Chinese leadership realizes that semiconductors underpin all advanced technologies, and that it can no longer dependably rely on American supplies," said Dan Wang, technology analyst at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics. "In the face of stricter U.S. restrictions on chip access, China's response can only be to keep pushing its own industry to develop."
Shares in several major Chinese chipmakers gained. Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group Co. finished 4.3% higher in Hong Kong. On mainland bourses, Will Semiconductor Ltd. -- the second most valuable listed Chinese chip firm -- rose almost 10%. Xiamen Changelight Co. closed 14% up while Focus Lightings Tech Co. jumped 5.6%.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which is responsible for drafting the tech-related goals, did not reply to a request for comment.

China imports more than $300 billion worth of integrated circuits each year and its semiconductor developers rely on U.S.-made chip design tools and patents, as well as critical manufacturing technologies from U.S. allies. But deteriorating ties between Beijing and Washington have made it increasingly difficult for Chinese companies to source components and chipmaking technologies from overseas.
The U.S. government has blacklisted dozens of China's tech companies so they can't buy American parts, and slapped bans on ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat. In the case of technology giant Huawei Technologies Co., the Trump administration sanctioned the company and pressed allies to ban the company's equipment from their telecom networks.
This month, Huawei, the country's largest handset maker, will even lose access to chips from the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. under new American regulations that prohibit suppliers anywhere in the world from working with the company if those suppliers use American equipment. The tighter rules have raised the urgency of building domestic alternatives in Beijing.
Third-generation semiconductors are mainly chipsets made of materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride. They can operate at high frequency and in higher power and temperature environments, and are widely used in fifth-generation radio frequency chips, military-grade radars and electric vehicles.

[Bloomberg]
Since no single country now dominates the fledgling, third-generation technology, China's gamble is its corporations can compete if they accelerate research into the field now. Global leaders such as U.S.-based CREE Inc. and Japan's Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. are just beginning to grow this business, while Chinese tech giants such as Sanan Optoelectronics Co. Ltd. and state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corp. have made inroads on third-generation chipsets.
The country's other chipmakers, which include Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Will Semiconductor Ltd. and National Silicon Industry Group Co., may benefit more broadly from the state support.

"This is a sector about to see explosive growth," Alan Zhou, managing partner of Fujian-based chip investment fund An Xin Capital Co., told an industry forum last week. Because of China's increasing demand and investment, this is an area that could create a "world-class Chinese chip giant."

China plans huge investment in next-generation chips: Report

Facing pressure from the US, China wants to develop its own chip-making technology, sources tell Bloomberg.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[antonius123]

China's Sanan to Pour USD2.3 Billion Into Third-Gen Chip Project

Tang Shihua
DATE: Jun 17 2020
/ SOURCE: Yicai

China's Sanan to Pour USD2.3 Billion Into Third-Gen Chip Project

(Yicai Global) June 17 -- Sanan Optoelectronics will build a CNY16 billion (USD2.3 billion) factory in the Chinese city of Changsha to meet high demand for third-generation chips.
Completion of the project's first phase will take two years, the Xiamen-based firm said in a statement yesterday. The second part will be ready within four years of the project’s start. The new factory will enhance Sanan's industrial positioning and core competitiveness, it added.
The emerging field of third-generation semiconductors, based on materials such as silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and zinc oxide, is touted as the next level of chips to support new technologies such as fifth-generation wireless networks, smart grids, and new energy vehicles.
Sanan's stock price [SHA: 600703] climbed 1.7 percent today to end at CNY22.98 (USD3.20). The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.
The stock slumped earlier this week after Sanan’s second-largest shareholder, China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, said that it will sell as much as 2 percent of the firm's outstanding shares in the next six months.
Editor: Emmi Laine

China's Sanan to Pour USD2.3 Billion Into Third-Gen Chip Project

www.yicaiglobal.com

 

[antonius123]

What Happened To GaN And SiC?

Early predictions were overly optimistic, but these technologies are starting to make inroads.
February 3rd, 2015 - By: Mark LaPedus


About five years ago, some chipmakers claimed that traditional silicon-based power MOSFETs had hit the wall, prompting the need for a new power transistor technology.
At the time, some thought that two wide-bandgap technologies—gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon and silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs—would displace the ubiquitous power MOSFET. In addition, GaN and SiC were supposed to pose a threat to higher-end, silicon-based insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Power MOSFETs and IGBTs are the workhorse chips in power electronic systems.
Compared to silicon-based devices, GaN and SiC power chips operate at higher voltages, frequencies and temperatures, helping to eliminate up to 90% of the power losses in electricity conversion. Wide bandgap refers to higher voltage electronic band gaps in devices, which are larger than 1 electronvolt (eV).
As it turns out, power MOSFETs and IGBTs are moving towards their limits. But today, the two technologies continue to dominate the landscape in applications from 5 volts to 6.5 kilovolts. In contrast, GaN-on-silicon power chip shipments are lower than expected amid a multitude of challenges. And SiC MOSFETs are shipping, but SiC also suffers from high wafer costs.
“At one time, in International Rectifier’s promotion for GaN, the company said that within 10 years the topology would be that you use silicon for anything below 5 volts,” said Stephan Ohr, an analyst with Gartner. “You would use GaN for anything from 5 volts to 600 volts to 1,000 volts. And you would use SiC for anything above 1,000 volts.”
That prediction didn’t pan out. “I am not seeing that happening now,” Ohr said. “I don’t think you can buy a GaN part today. They are all on allocation. But if you go to a distributor, you can find SiC. SiC got to the market faster than GaN.”
All told, GaN and SiC will grow faster than silicon-based power semis over the next decade. But in total, GaN and SiC are projected to have a combined share of only 13% in the overall power semiconductor market by 2024, according to Lux Research. Silicon-based power semis will continue to dominate with an 87% share by 2024, according to the firm.
Still, OEMs face some tough decisions today. Silicon-based power semis continue to work, but OEMs still want to have smaller, faster and more efficient devices and for good reason. The power losses in today’s systems range from 8% to 15%, according to experts.
So, the questions are clear. Are silicon-based power MOSFETs and IGBTs on their last legs? Will GaN and SiC power devices eventually fulfill their promises and displace silicon? And, of course, which technology will provide the ultimate performance?
The contenders
Power semis are used in the field of power electronics. Basically, power electronics make use of solid-state electronics to control and convert electric power. The conversion is performed with various semiconductor-switching devices.
The perfect switch would have infinite speeds, zero on-state resistances and infinite off-state resistances. Unfortunately, the perfect switch doesn’t exist. So, engineers must look at several factors when evaluating chips, such as voltage, current, switching speed, load and temperature.
Today, there are several devices to choose from. On the transistor front, the entry-level market is served by traditional power MOSFETs, which are used in 10- to 500-volt applications. Developed in 1976, power MOSFETs are based on a double-diffused (DMOS) architecture. They are vertical structures, meaning the current flows from the source at the top to the drain at the bottom.
Power MOSFETs are cheap and here to stay. At best, GaN and SiC could make a tiny dent in applications below 500 volts. In any case, the big and hotly contested market is now taking place in two voltage segments—600 volts and 1,200 volts. In these areas, four basic technologies are competing for some large markets, such as adapters, automotive, switching power supplies and solar inverters.
In this segment, there are two silicon-based solutions—super-junction power MOSFETs and IGBTs. Super-junction power MOSFETs, which are souped-up versions of power MOSFETs, are used in 500- to 900-volt applications. Super-junction power MOSFETs are vertical devices. They also consist of pillar structures in the body, confining the electric field in the epi region.
The IGBT, meanwhile, is a three-terminal device that combines the characteristics of MOSFETs and bipolar transistors. IGBTs are used for 400-volt to 10-kilovolt applications.
Then, there are the two wide-bandgap technologies—SiC and GaN. Based on silicon and carbon, SiC has a bandgap of 3.3 eV. Silicon has a bandgap of 1.1 eV. SiC FETs are targeted for 600-volt to 10-kilovolt applications.
Another technology, GaN, is a binary III-V material. In the power arena, GaN-on-silicon chips are used in 30- to 600-volt applications. GaN has a bandgap of 3.4 eV.
The best technology?
IGBTs, SiC and other technologies are geared for the niche-oriented markets at 1,700 volts and higher. But what is the best technology for the larger 600- and 1,200-volt markets? It’s not a simple answer. “You will likely have a co-existence of all technologies. But it also depends on the applications of the voltage range and how much a customer is willing to pay for a device, whether they will go for a silicon-based solution, GaN or SiC,” said Roland Rupp, project manager for SiC devices at Infineon, the world’s largest power semi vendor. Infineon sell chips based on all of the technologies—MOSFETs, IGBTs, GaN and SiC.
Indeed, there are tradeoffs between the technologies. For example, both super-junction MOSFETs and IGBTs are ramping up on 300mm wafers, making them less expensive than GaN and SiC. In comparison, SiC MOSFETs are ramping up on 100mm wafers, while GaN-on-silicon is running on 150mm substrates.
In addition, super-junction power MOSFETs and IGBTs continue to improve in terms of performance. For instance, in some hard-switching applications, super-junction devices are closing in on GaN or SiC. “With respect to manufacturing cost, the IGBT is clearly superior to all other power switch technologies and has the lowest T-dependence of conduction losses,” Rupp said.
But super-junction power MOSFETs hit the ceiling at around 900 volts. IGBTs are plagued by slow switching speeds. “Both super-junction and IGBT technologies are getting closer to their technological limits,” he said. “There are still new ideas to further improve the trade-off between static and switching losses and keeping short-circuit ruggedness, but they are fighting with the fact that performance improvements are counterbalanced by increased processing costs. The newly available 300mm wafer process environment for such silicon-based power switches helps with respect to this cost aspect, but will probably be the last significant productivity gain for silicon-based power electronics for the next decade.”
So, there is a keen interest in GaN and SiC. Today, SiC diodes are used in high-end power supplies for servers and telecom systems, but SiC MOSFETs are still in the early stages of market penetration. Compared to power MOSFETs, SiC has 10 times the breakdown field and three times the thermal conductivity. “Neglecting the cost differences between the various technologies would lead to a clear champion—SiC FET,” Rupp said.
But SiC also suffers from high wafer costs and low effective channel mobility. In a move to address some of the issues, suppliers hope to reduce the costs by moving to larger wafers. “We are doing production on 4-inch. We want to go to 6-inch,” said John Palmour, chief technology officer for power and RF at Cree, a supplier of SiC-based LEDs and power devices.
SiC MOSFETs are vertical devices. The channel structures also come in various configurations, including trench and planar. Trench-based SiC MOSFETs have lower conductivity loses than planar. But trench tends to suffer from gate-oxide breakdowns, prompting some to devise double-trench SiC MOSFETs.
Cree, for one, advocates the planar channel structure. In fact, Cree has rolled out its third-generation SiC technology, which could address the channel mobility issues. “It’s a die shrink,” Palmour said. “We’ve also reduced the cost-per-amp.”
All told, SiC MOSFETs have some advantages over MOSFETs and IGBTs, but SiC won’t displace silicon anytime soon. “IGBTs are not going away,” he said. “They will be around for a while.”
Like SiC, GaN is also generating steam. A GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is a lateral device. The current flows from the source to the drain on the surface. Below the surface, AlGaN and GaN layers are grown on a silicon substrate.
GaN-on-silicon is fast, but it also suffers from a lattice mismatch, making it prone to defects in the fab. It also suffers from reliability issues and low thermal conductivity. And there are also questions whether GaN-on-silicon can scale beyond 600 volts.
“This assumes you can buy GaN parts,” Gartner’s Ohr said. “I have been saying that GaN parts are still in development and experimental. But assuming you can get one, you can reduce the size of your capacitors and inductors that would go with your power supply or motor drive. But what is a GaN part going to cost you? And does that pay for the smaller size and incremental efficiency you can get from that?”
In fact, GaN has made slow progress. But one supplier, Transphorm, is making some headway. In 2013, Transphorm acquired Fujitsu’s GaN IP. At the time, Transphorm also announced a 600-volt GaN part, based on a cascode-type, normally-off technology. The device reduces energy losses by 50%, compared to silicon.
Then, earlier this year, the company moved into mass production. The chips are being made on a foundry basis within Fujitsu’s 150mm fab in Japan. “Transphorm is the only GaN provider who has announced and is actively providing 600-volt qualified products to the industry,” said Primit Parikh, president of Transphorm.
Parikh also dismissed the notion that GaN will run out of steam at 600 volts. In the lab, Transphorm has demonstrated 1,800-volt devices. “It has already scaled in demonstrations,” he said. “Our current focus is on mass production and widespread commercialization of the first set of products at 600 volts. That will be followed by higher voltage devices at 900 volts and 1,200 volts.”
Transphorm isn’t the only GaN vendor, however. In fact, more than a dozen companies have entered the GaN power chip fray in recent times. “One of the reasons for that is clear. GaN is not just a technology. GaN is becoming desirable as the power conversion platform of choice,” he added.
It’s unlikely that there is room for a dozen GaN suppliers. There also are too many SiC vendors. Time will tell if the market will see a shakeout. But clearly, GaN and SiC are shaking up the landscape.

What Happened To GaN And SiC?

What Happened To GaN And SiC? Early predictions were overly optimistic, but these technologies are starting to make inroads.

semiengineering.com

 

[kankan326]

So far China did well in new technologies. 5G, AI, electric vehicles, UAV. Will China repeat the success in next generation chips?

 

[Viet]

So far China did well in new technologies. 5G, AI, electric vehicles, UAV. Will China repeat the success in next generation chips?

I am electrical engineer My bet: the chance you succeed is lower than 10 percent. The article likens making chips is like making atomic bombs. That is wrong. Making advanced chips is hundred if not thousands times harder. You need international cooperation if you want to make chips. But in your case you are a lone wolf. Xi Jingping pours in $1.4 trillion? he will fail. Waste of money.

 

[IblinI]

I am electrical engineer My bet: the chance you succeed is lower than 10 percent. The article likens making chips is like making atomic bombs. That is wrong. Making advanced chips is hundred if not thousands times harder. You need international cooperation if you want to make chips. But in your case you are a lone wolf. Xi Jingping pours in $1.4 trillion? he will fail. Waste of money.

No one said it is easy, but you should worry about when you are going to make a large caliber arty shell first since you are the one keeps shouting about the up coming war between China and Viet.

 

[kankan326]

My bet: the chance you succeed is lower than 10 percent. The article likens making chips is like making atomic bombs. That is wrong. Making advanced chips is hundred if not thousands times harder.

The new generation chip is a new battlefield. No IP traps waiting for the new comers. Which is an important reason why China can not succeed in the traditional chips. I do have high hope for it if China decides to use whole country's resources to develop it.

 

[Viet]

No one said it is easy, but you should worry about when you are going to make a large caliber arty shell first since you are the one keeps shouting about the up coming war between China and Viet.

We can make all artillery shells in all calibres pls check VN defense thread. I am stupid if I cheer for war between CN/VN. You are off topic.

 

[Viet]

The new generation chip is a new battlefield. No IP traps waiting for the new comers. Which is an important reason why China can not succeed in the traditional chips. I do have high hope for it if China decides to use whole country's resources to develop it.

You make the typical mistake. Not all things can be solved by more money more people. Can you make cars like Germany and Japan can? No. Advanced fighter jets as F35 or Typhoon rely on international cooperations. Modern BMWs, Audi, Mercedes need parts of France, Italy. IQs from different different people are required to make good stuffs. You think you can do everything by yourself. Ok good luck.

 

[GumNaam]

So far China did well in new technologies. 5G, AI, electric vehicles, UAV. Will China repeat the success in next generation chips?

In sha Allah.

 

[IblinI]

We can make all artillery shells in all calibres pls check VN defense thread. I am stupid if I cheer for war between CN/VN. You are off topic.

Posted here, all caliber?155mm?

 

[kankan326]

You make the typical mistake. Not all things can be solved by more money more people. Can you make cars like Germany and Japan can? No. Advanced fighter jets as F35 or Typhoon rely on international cooperations. Modern BMWs, Audi, Mercedes need parts of France, Italy. IQs from different different people are required to make good stuffs. You think you can do everything by yourself. Ok good luck.

China doesn't have to do everything. If it is Chinese company who firstly finds the only path that leads to critical development of new generation chip, China will control the technology standard. Which can be a weapon used to other countries. Other countries have to share their technologies with China. This is what US did before. Do you really think other countries follow US ban because they are allies of US?

 

[IblinI]

You make the typical mistake. Not all things can be solved by more money more people. Can you make cars like Germany and Japan can? No. Advanced fighter jets as F35 or Typhoon rely on international cooperations. Modern BMWs, Audi, Mercedes need parts of France, Italy. IQs from different different people are required to make good stuffs. You think you can do everything by yourself. Ok good luck.

As I keep saying, the last thing you have to worry is our industry, you have just seen the launch of a spacecraft, another 5th gen fight er next year, stealth bomber, EMALS aircraft carrier, etc... sit tight and enjoyed the show wether you like it or not.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

I am electrical engineer My bet: the chance you succeed is lower than 10 percent. The article likens making chips is like making atomic bombs. That is wrong. Making advanced chips is hundred if not thousands times harder. You need international cooperation if you want to make chips. But in your case you are a lone wolf. Xi Jingping pours in $1.4 trillion? he will fail. Waste of money.

I would trust the Chinese government whose officials are predominantly doctorates in engineering, not some random violent Viet guy who threaten to stab me in the face.

"When a monkey grasps

The Banana is too high

The fruit is too sour!"


Gorilla Poet 2020.

 

[Viet]

Posted here, all caliber?155mm?

bro Vietnam military uses Soviet calibre 152mm, not Nato 155mm.
But we are off topic there aren’t much pics some are published. Weapons and ammo are made in factories like these.