Since the development of power devices, according to different categories, power semiconductors have gradually formed two major categories: power ICs and power devices. Among them, MOSFETs and IGBTs belong to voltage controlled switching devices. Compared to current controlled switching devices such as power transistors and thyristors, they have the characteristics of easy driving, fast switching speed, and low losses, gradually becoming the mainstream products of power devices. Currently, their combined market share is about 70%.

From the global distribution of downstream applications of power semiconductors, the industry points out that automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics are the main sources of demand, with a combined proportion of over 75% for consecutive years.http://www.ic-bom.com/

In 2022, China‘s IGBT industry entered an explosive period. After two years of car core shortage starting from 2020, IGBT became increasingly scarce. In the second half of 2022, it even surpassed the automotive MCU and became the biggest constraint affecting car production expansion.

Afterwards, with the development of new energy vehicles, IGBT became the focus of industrial development. The latest statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in 2022, China‘s new energy vehicles continued to experience explosive growth, with production and sales reaching 7.058 million and 6.887 million units, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 96.9% and 93.4%, maintaining the world‘s first place for 8 consecutive years.http://www.ic-bom.com/

Many representative enterprises in China continue to strengthen the research and development of IGBT technology. For example, in the first half of 2022, Star Semiconductor Company developed a new generation of vehicle grade 650V/750V IGBT chips based on the seventh generation micro groove Trench Field Stop technology, which passed customer verification and began mass supply in the second half of 2022; In 2022, Silan Micro followed the trend of new energy development and entered the field of vehicle grade IGBT modules and SiC MOSFETs through fixed increase financing. Its vehicle grade IGBT and other products have been verified and have been delivered in bulk.

MOSFET devices have the characteristics of fast switching speed, high input impedance, and good thermal stability, and are widely used in low, medium, and high voltage circuits. They are one of the power devices with the widest coverage voltage range and the most downstream applications.

With the electrification of automobiles, medium and high voltage MOEFET has been widely used in the medium voltage electric parts of automobiles, such as DC-DC and OBC, to assist in the conversion and transmission of electrical energy, and the average usage of a single vehicle has increased to over 200; In addition, with the development of automotive intelligence, MOSFETs are required for functions such as ADAS, safety, and infotainment. According to Infineon data, the number of MOSFETs per vehicle in mid to high-end models is expected to increase to 400 in the future.

New energy vehicles are accelerating their progress, and at the same time, large manufacturers represented by Renesa are gradually withdrawing from some of the medium and low voltage MOSFET markets. Driven by the dual drive of supply optimization and increased demand, domestic car grade power device manufacturers are accelerating their entry into the automotive supply chain.http://www.ic-bom.com/

At present, IGBT and MOSFET still occupy the mainstream in the power semiconductor market. Compared with Si based products, SiC, the latecomer, has three most prominent characteristics: large band gap, high critical breakdown field strength, and high thermal conductivity. Based on its huge development potential, many domestic and foreign manufacturers have striven to layout the SiC industry chain in recent years.

With the rapid development of SiC, there are constantly arguments about "SiC replacing IGBT". The author believes that substitution is a trend, but whether from the perspective of usage scenarios or cost prices, SiC may not completely replace IGBT, and the two are expected to develop together in the future.

According to market usage, SiC is very suitable for high-frequency, high-voltage and other application scenarios. SiC power devices have great advantages in the 600-1700V range, especially in the field of new energy vehicles. Traditional silicon based IGBT chips have reached the physical limit of materials in high-pressure fast charging models, so new energy vehicles are beginning to embrace SiC.

However, the disadvantage of SiC transistors is that they are relatively expensive and the SiC production process is more complex.http://www.ic-bom.com/

The overall production cost of silicon carbide is relatively high compared to that of Si, and SiC transistors also have some drawbacks, such as susceptibility to damage and temperature sensitivity. Based on these characteristics, SiC is not suitable for some low-cost and low-power application scenarios.

Compared to SiC, the obvious advantage of IGBT is its low cost, as cost determines the market. At the same time, the reliability of IGBTs is higher than that of SiC MOSFETs because their structure is relatively simple and their failure rate is low. Meanwhile, IGBT has better capacitive performance and better overvoltage resistance, making it suitable for high-power and high current application scenarios. For example, in the field of charging piles such as DC-DC, which do not have high environmental requirements and do not require high weight and space, it is very difficult to replace the most cost-effective IGBT.

It is undeniable that SiC remains a core component that electric vehicle manufacturers must consider in the future, including Tesla. Therefore, if considering the impact of technological changes, TrendForce Consulting believes that Tesla‘s next generation electric vehicle main inverter will undergo new packaging adjustments, possibly including a hybrid packaging solution of SiC/Si IGBT. This is a disruptive innovation in engineering design, but full of challenges.http://www.ic-bom.com/