【Industry News】Gallium Oxide Will be the Most Potential Material

Zhejiang University Faction is lining up to announce financing

A stroke of financing from Zhejiang University faction has coming

      The latest comes from SEMISHARE, which recently announced the completion of the second round of over 100 million yuan of financing this year, and the investors are Shenzhen Capital Group ("SCGC"), XingCheng Capital and old shareholders Walden International. It is worth mentioning that Liu Shiwen, the founder of the company, is an alumnus of Zhejiang University and graduated from Chu Kochen Honors College of Zhejiang University.

      Almost at the same time, Chipanalog Microelectronics introduced several investment institutions, and the head of the company also came from Zhejiang University.

      And since this year, GAREN SEMI, Ⅳ-SemiteC, North Ocean Photonics, SpacemiT... These Zhejiang University semiconductor startup companies have simultaneously completed financing. Combing down, most of these companies are active in the third-generation semiconductor field. What is little known behind the scenes is that as early as 1958, Zhejiang University became one of the first six engineering colleges in China to set up semiconductor major, with a long professional history.

      In the past, the investment community combed through the Tsinghua faction in the AI circle, the Harbin Institute of Technology faction in the robotics circle, and the Central South University faction in the new energy circle. Quietly, the semiconductor circle is rising a Zhejiang University faction.

The rise of a semiconductor Zhejiang University faction

      As you can see, Zhejiang University faction’s semiconductor companies are lining up to complete financing.

      Here's an important background to add: With the third-generation semiconductor becoming a major national development strategy, in 2020, the Advanced Semiconductor Research Institute of Zhejiang University Hangzhou International Science and Technology Innovation Center was established, with Academician Yang Deren as the chief scientist, focusing on creating a new pattern of the whole industrial chain of the third-generation semiconductor, and cooperating with the State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials of Zhejiang University to incubate projects and jointly develop the third-generation semiconductor.

      In the same year, a company focusing on Gallium Oxide, GAREN SEMI was incubated under the support of Hangzhou International Science and Innovation Center of Zhejiang University. The founder, Zhang Hui, is a doctor from Zhejiang University and began to study Gallium Oxide materials in 2018 under the guidance of Academician Yang Deren. In the laboratory, he always insisted on an idea: the research and development of Gallium Oxide materials must go out and achieve industrialization. In April this year, GAREN SEMI completed tens of millions of angel round financing led by Lanchi Ventures and invested by Yuquan Capital.

The WBG semiconductor single crystal market is growing rapidly and will reach 15.8 billion yuan in 2030

In 2023, it is expected to grow by 47.1% compared with the previous year, of which SiC will account for three quarters

      The global market (based on manufacturer shipments) in 2023 is expected to reach about 13.35 billion yuan, up 47.1 percent from last year to about 9.07 billion yuan. By material, the market size in 2023 is projected to be: SiC will reach about 10.08 billion yuan (75.5%), GaN about 2.31 billion yuan (17.3%), Ga₂O₃ (Gallium Oxide) about 260 million yuan (2.0%), AlN (aluminum nitride) about 540 million yuan (4.0%), diamond about 170 million yuan (1.2%). SiC's products are expected to account for three quarters of the market in numerous applications such as solar power equipment and automobiles.

      According to the study, the SiC market is entering a period of substantial growth, and applications for automotive applications are expected to be the key to rapid market growth from 2025 onwards. The use of GaN for lighting LED and LD, due to its superior performance in power equipment and high-frequency applications, and has solved the large diameter wafer and large supply problems, it is expected that the market promotion of GaN on GaN devices is coming. Compared with SiC devices, Ga₂O₃ has higher potential in cost and performance, so more and more enterprises are beginning to pour into the power device market. AlN single crystal as a deep ultraviolet LED does maintain a certain demand, but because of the use of sapphire substrate deep ultraviolet LED performance has been improved, so how to show the advantages of AlN substrate is currently facing the challenge.

In 2030, it will reach 317.6 billion yen

      It is estimated that by 2030, the global market for wide band gap semiconductors will reach 15.8 billion yuan, mainly influenced by power device applications. From the perspective of materials, SiC is expected to account for about 15.3 billion yuan, GaN about₃  260 million yuan, ，Ga₂ about 150 million yuan, AlN about 70 million yuan and diamond about 30 million yuan. In various materials, SiC accounts for about 96.8%, which indicates that the market growth of SiC is expected to be very high in wide band gap semiconductors.

      The survey was conducted between April and July 2023 among wide band gap semiconductor manufacturers, related companies and research institutions.

The integration of Industry and education to solve the "chip talent shortage" has become a new opportunity after the investment returns to rationality

      "The integration of industry and education is a means, not an end. The purpose is that talent training and scientific research in colleges and universities should be combined with practical application to solve practical problems." Zhang Yuming, dean of the School of Microelectronics at Xidian University, said at the 2023 China (Shenzhen) IC Summit - Innovation and Investment in the Integration of Industry and Education sub-forum on Sept 22.

      He said that talent training is the most important responsibility of the school, and to promote the development of integrated Industry and education, improve students' practical ability, the school needs to reform from the supply side, promote a series of reforms including training programs, curriculum system and practical training, and strengthen ties with social applications.

      "At present, we just have an innovation platform for the integration of Industry and education, and I hope that enterprises in the industry can participate in it. I hope that through various reforms, students' ability to solve practical problems can be truly improved." Zhang Yuming said.

      In addition, there were many entrepreneurs, experts and scholars from Xidian University who shared their research results at the meeting. Among them, Zhou Hong, professor of Xidian University, shared the research progress of Gallium Oxide power devices for ultra-wide band gap semiconductors.

      "We estimate that 2025 could usher in a new era of ultra-wide band gap. The essence of the device requires large voltage, and large voltage means large power, which requires smaller resistance, energy conversion loss will be smaller, and higher efficiency. And now silicon devices are already reach the limit, Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride industry in recent years is very hot. After ultra-wide band gap semiconductor applications comes in future, higher efficiency, due to the low cost, Gallium Oxide will be the most potential material." Zhou Hong said.