Power SiC - Manufacturing 2024

Table of Contents

Objectives of the report

Scope of the report

Report Methodology

About the Authors

Companies Cited in this Report

Yole Group of Companies Related Reports

Executive Summary

Market Forecast

Power SiC Market trends

• Power SiC applications overview
• Power SiC device market
• Power SiC epiwafer market
• Power SiC wafer market

Power SiC technology and manufacturing tool

• SiC wafer technology and manufacturing tools
  • Crystal growth techniques
  • SiC powder technology and market
  • Defects in SiC wafer
  • PVT tool market and providers
  • Transition to 8-inch wafer size
  • Innovation in wafer production
• SiC epiwafer technology and manufacturing tools
  • SiC Epitaxy techniques
  • HTCVD tool market and providers
• SiC device technology and manufacturing tools
  • Power SiC device Technologies, Roadmaps, and Trends
  • Focus on dry etch tools market
  • Focus on ion implantation tools market
  • Focus on annealing and oxidation tools market
  • Focus on wafer thinning tool market

• Metrology and inspection for Power SiC

Power SiC supply chain analysis

• Power SiC player's overview
• Power SiC equipment providers’ overview
• Power SiC device players by technology
• Capex vs. Power SiC device revenue
• Are the power SiC market heading to overcapacity ?
• Transition to 8-inch
• Brown field investment: converting CMOS line to SiC lines
• Focus on China
  • Power SiC player's overview
  • Power SiC equipment providers’ overview
  • Where does China stand in SiC today?
  • The impacts on Chinese SiC eco-system since trade war started
• Company profiles
  • Naura
  • Aixtron
  • PVATepla
  • Axcelis
  • Centrotherm
  • KLA
  • Semilab

Conclusion

Annex

• Glossary
• Definitions

Yole Group presentation

Massive capacity expansion drives power SiC WFE market to peak in 2026 at $5.1B

The multi-billion Power SiC market is attracting significant investments and capacity expansion at all levels, including device, epiwafer, and wafer. Device players are working on facility build-ups in various locations. SiC wafer manufacture is considered to be a bottleneck, so there has been significant capacity expansion in the past few years, especially in China. This has driven considerable equipment orders; what, therefore, are the dynamics of the SiC manufacturing tool market?

As of 2024, PVT is the primary method to produce SiC wafers. This sublimation method represents a cumulative 24-29 market of more than $2B. Regarding the SiC powder, the raw material for the wafers, we expect the open market to reach more than $36M by 2029. The PVT tool and powder markets are mostly captive, with players controlling the quality in-house. SiC’s specific material properties require dedicated WFE manufacturing tools and lines to process power SiC devices. The epitaxy equipment market Is expected to generate $4.3B in cumulative revenue during 24-29. The SiC ion implanter market is expected to generate $4.9B of cumulative revenue over the same period. Regarding the diffusion furnace (used for annealing) and thermal oxidation machinery, we expect a cumulative $1.4B to be generated in the coming five years. SiC wafer/epiwafer and device processing requires Metrology & Inspection (M&I) to detect surface and subsurface defects. The M&I market is expected to reach $5.7B cumulative revenue during 24-29. Other tools that contribute to the growing SiC market are burn-in testing, patterning, wafer bonders, thinning, and CMP tools. The overall WFE SIC manufacturing tool market is expected to experience a 5% CAGR24-29  and exceed $4.4B by 2029. With the exception of the critical WFE equipment, the overall WFE revenue follows CapEx trends at 50-60% per year. We expect CapEx (SiC boule growth equipment front-end, back-end, packaging, infrastructure) to peak in 2026 and the SiC device revenue to exceed the overall CapEx in 2027.

Toolmakers keeping pace with SiC evolution with concerns about over-capacity

In view of the growing SiC device revenue forecast, market players have been investing higher amounts in advance. In 2023, the global CapEx in the Power SiC business was double that of the SiC device market. And the CapEx is expected to peak in 2026, with multiple players finalizing their ongoing capacity build-out. China is one of the most active countries in Power SiC. In 2023, more than 1/3rd  of the SiC wafer and epiwafer market was captured by Chinese players. This is in line with the equipment capability in China: multiple Chinese PVT and HTCVD players are active as of 2024. With the shift in the value chain to devices, the equipment supply in China is not yet self-sufficient. Therefore, Chinese device players will still take time to gain market share. 

As of 2024, 6” is the mainstream SiC wafer for the leading players, and it’s expected to remain the case over our forecast period until 2029 due to the significant capacity expansion based on 6”.  Wolfspeed is the only player producing partially on an 8” platform. Given the 8” R&D, multiple IDMs and SiC wafer players have demonstrated 8” samples. Shipments are expected to start with initial volumes in 2025. The 8” SiC platform is considered to be strategic and mainly captive during the next five years due to the lack of volume shipments on the open SiC wafer market as of 2024. According to industry feedback, no concerns regarding manufacturing tools for the 8-inch transition have been highlighted. The installed tools are already 8-inch compatible.

To compete in the rapidly growing Power SiC business, brown-field investment is preferred by some companies. In the last three years, several brown-field investments have been announced by companies like Bosch, Vishay, and ROHM. Much of the depreciated equipment for Si device processing, such as patterning and metallization tools, can be reused for SiC manufacturing. Other tools – like ion implanters – need to be acquired and added to the line. The need for new equipment depends mainly on the high-temperature process requirement and the transparency of the SiC wafer (for M&I reasons).

Regarding the toolmaker’s landscape, it varies at each step. For example, the SiC ion implanter and annealing tool vendor markets are more consolidated with identified leading players, whereas the etching tool vendor landscape is still evolving as many players try to capture higher market share.

Intrinsic SiC material properties imposes specific tools and device processing

Compared to Si, WBG SiC material offers superior properties for high-voltage, high-frequency power devices, i.e., 3x wider bandgap, 2x higher electron drift velocity, and 5-6x higher dielectric breakdown. The production of power SiC device types (SBD, planar, and trench MOSFET) has been enabled since silicon semiconductor equipment and consumables can be used for processing. Nevertheless, different material properties require the adaptation/redesign of the equipment.

For WFE device manufacturing, the key parameters are the high-temperature requirement and strong Si-C bonds, which define the various process windows at each step. SiC epitaxy tools require high temperatures, which is challenging and costly. High throughput and high run-to-run reproducibility are mandatory. With multiple suppliers, easier maintenance, and good throughput, horizontal HTCVD is preferred over vertical. At room temperature (RT), ion implantation of SiC results in a high density of defects and amorphization of the material. For this reason, ion implantation of SiC is typically carried out at high temperatures (hot implantation, e.g., in the range of 400–1000 C) to annihilate the defects created by the ions dynamically. Similarly, all the annealing and thermal oxidation steps happen at high temperatures (>1200 C). In general, the high-temperature requirements impose specific tool designs, such as process chamber geometry and material and heater type, to guarantee good uniformity and yields.

In 2024, most installed wafer capacity is dedicated to planar SiC device production (55%), followed by SBD (28%) and trench SiC MOSFET (17%). Looking forward to 2029, we expect SiC trench MOSFET share to increase to 31%.

ACCRETECH, ACM Research , Aixtron, AK Optics, AMEC, Amtech Systems, Applied Materials, ASM International, AT&S, Axcelis, Bangxin, Bosch, Bruker, Camtek, centrotherm, Confovis, CSD Epitaxy, DISCO, Global Zeus, GMC Semitech, Jingsheng Electromechanical, JST Manufacturing, JSXM, KINGSEMI, KLA, Kokusai, Lam Research, Lasertec, Mitsubishi Chemical, NasoTech, NAURA, Nearfield Instruments, Nissin Ion, Nova,  NuFlare, Okamoto, Onto Innovation, Oxford Instruments, onsemi, Panasonic, Plasma-Therm, PNC Systems, PVA TePla, Rigaku, Rohm, SAMCO, SCREEN, semilab, SHI, Shibaura, Soitec, STMicroelectronics, Sumco, Sumitomo SEI, Tokyo Electron, Toray Engineering/TASMIT, Toshiba, Veeco, WolfSpeed and more.

Key Features 

• 2021-2029 forecast for Power SiC manufacturing tools (Munits, $M)
• 2021-2029 Capex forecast and analysis
• 2019-2029 forecast for Power SiC device, epiwafer, wafer
• Overview of the Power SiC manufacturing tool with focus on PVT, SiC etching, ion implantation, thermal annealing and oxidation, wafer thinning, and M&I.
• Tool provider landscape analysis
• Over-capacity analysis.
• Focus on Chinese ecosystem and strategies

What's new?

• 2021-2029 forecast for Power SiC manufacturing tool market.
• Deep insight into Power SiC manufacturing tool supply chain , and technology trends

Product Objectives

• Indicate the SiC device revenue trends
• Indicate the SiC wafer demand (wafer used for device production) and installed wafer capacity trends
• Establish SiC chipmaker overall CapEx, its relationship with SiC device revenue and WFE expenditure
• Identify the challenges in the Power SiC processing for various SiC devices: planar MOSFET , trench MOSFET, SBD
• Provide an understanding of the Power SiC equipment market from powder to the bare die
• Provide an understanding of SiC powder suppliers
• Size the market and provide and understanding of Physical Vapor Deposition equipment for SiC boule growth. Estimate the 2023 equipment vendor market share.
• Size the market and provide and understanding of the overall Wafer fab Equipment for SiC epiwafer and device processing. Estimate the 2023 equipment vendor market share for critical WFE: Ion implanters, Epitaxy tools, Metrology and Inspection, wafer thinning, Dry Etch equipment.