Overview
Germany AIXTRON (Germany AIXTRON) and the U.S. VEECO (U.S. VEECO Precision Instruments, Inc.) two companies almost produced more than 90% of the world's mainstream MOCVD equipment.
1, production efficiency and cost profile
International MOCVD technology has been quite mature, the mainstream equipment from 6-8 chip machine in 2003, 2004, 12 chip machine, 2005, 15 chip machine, 2006, 21-24 chip machine, has now reached 42, 45, 49 chip machine (one time can be loaded with 49 pieces of 2-inch substrate growth epitaxial).
The capacity of the epitaxial furnace continues to expand the LED epitaxial wafer producers unit production costs fell rapidly and significantly. At present, the mass production enterprises on a single batch of production capacity of the minimum requirement is in more than 30 pieces.
Domestic equipment is currently 6 pieces of machine, production efficiency and production cost gap is far.
2, price and production value profile
Production MOCVD equipment priced at up to 10 to 20 million yuan according to the model, 6-chip machine 700,000 U.S. dollars, 9-chip machine 1 million U.S. dollars, plus the relevant supporting equipment and facilities, a line of LED production line needs to be invested in more than 4,000 million yuan.
If the newly purchased equipment for the 45-chip machine production of blue chips, according to the 3 furnace / day calculation, the annual output of about 49,000 pieces, revenue of 48 million yuan, input and output is basically 1:1.
3, the production process process is complex, many parameters, the rate of excellence and uniformity is the key
Extended wafer growth process is complex, many parameters, the cultivation of professional operators need to be It takes a long time to train professional operators.
One of the simplest GaN blue LED single quantum well structure, the growth process includes: high-temperature baking, buffer layer, recrystallization, n-GaN, trap layer, stacking and p-GaN, etc., the process step by step up to dozens of steps, each step needs to be adjusted to the process parameters **** there are more than 20, there is a relatively subtle relationship between the parameters, process editors need to be based on the requirements of the process, the various Process editors need to adjust each parameter according to the process requirements, and if necessary, calculations, such as temperature speed, pressure rate, growth rate control, carrier gas and gas source ratio. How to automatically check the parameters according to the process needs and reduce the workload of the process personnel is an emerging topic worthy of study.
The relationship between each epitaxial chip, the production batch and the system can ensure good uniformity and good rate, especially in the chip maker's expansion, but also to maintain the same good rate and uniformity is particularly critical.
4, 4-inch MOCVD equipment will become the mainstream
Taiwan epitaxial manufacturers at this stage in the technology has been able to produce 4-inch and 6-inch capacity, but for cost considerations, the majority of Taiwanese manufacturers are still 2-inch MOVCD equipment for the production of the main line; most of the European, American and South Korean manufacturers have long been using 4-inch MOVCD equipment.
The market expects that once the 4-inch epitaxial wafer material costs have collapsed dramatically (the current cost of 4-inch epitaxial wafer prices for 2-inch epitaxial wafer is about four times the cost of the wafer), the 2-inch MOCVD equipment will gradually be replaced by 4-inch.
AIXTRON and SemiLEDs collaborated in May 2009 on the development of a 6-inch blue LED chip in the structure of the 6x6-inch AIX 2800G4 HT MOCVD reactor, the yield increased by about 30% (compared to the traditional 42x2-inch architecture), not only better uniformity, but also reduce the edge effect (edge). effect.) However, at this stage, most of the difficulties still lie in the high price of 6-inch substrates and the challenges of epitaxial wafer cutting technology.
I, MOCVD equipment market
1, equipment suppliers
Currently there are two major international MOCVD equipment suppliers:
① Germany AIXTRON (Germany AIXTRON)
According to a recent Gartner Dataquest analysis report. AIXTRON's global share of MOCVD compound semiconductor equipment reached 72% in 2008.
AIXTRON's unique, state-of-the-art planetary carousel technology is currently utilized in the large G4 2800HT 42*2" and Thomas Swan (acquired by AIXTRON in 1999) CCS Crius 30*2" MOCVD systems, making the AIXTRON's MOCVD equipment is recognized as the world's best combination of technology and commercial value.
② U.S. VEECO
The U.S. VEECO Precision Instruments Co., Ltd. accounted for more than 20% of the main model 45-chip machine K465 has been sold more than 100 units, so far, the K series of MOCVD products global sales of more than 200 units. 80% of the world's top LED companies have been used in the K465 model of the MOCVD, as of now, VEECO in the Chinese region has a large number of MOCVD. VEECO has made great achievements in China, and the cumulative MOCVD shipments have reached 85 units.
VEECO's MOCVD has the following advantages:
First of all, it is a mass-production machine, which can effectively improve the time of mass production, and reduce the time and frequency of cleaning and maintenance. This is because the open bin cleaning process requires quite a bit of wasted time from cooling down from temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius to cleaning and then raising the temperature to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Secondly, the high degree of automation, reducing human operation. For example, it can be introduced automatically, and the robot can automatically replace the sapphire after production is completed, etc. It is a mass-production type design.
Third, to protect the equipment investment, to prevent outdated. Avoid the future due to the emergence of new equipment, resulting in the old equipment outdated. Through the plan to fully communicate with customers, the new equipment is linked to the old equipment to improve the yield of the product.
This year's oversupply of MOCVD machines has enabled VEECO to achieve a relatively favorable market position during this period, especially in the Chinese market. The growth in China is nearly 80% compared to last year. According to the understanding, as VEECO began to increase production capacity through outsourcing foundry, the current production capacity scale to catch up with the industry leader AIXTRON, so next year MOCVD machine supply bottleneck will be expected to be resolved.
③ Other manufacturers
Mainly including Japan Acid (NIPPON Sanso) and Nissin Electric (Nissin Electric), etc., its market is basically limited to Japan. In addition, Nichia and Toyota Synthesis are mainly self-developed, and their GaN-MOCVD equipment is not sold in the market for self-use only.
In terms of equipment performance, the quality of materials and device performance produced by Nichia's equipment is superior to that of AIXTRON and EMCORE (which has been acquired by VEECO).
By production capacity, 2006 GaN-type MOCVD equipment in the global market is mainly distributed as follows: 48% of Taiwan, the United States 15%, Japan 15%, South Korea 11%, 7% of mainland China, the European Union, 4%. MOCVD's main manufacturers, although Europe and the United States, but the two largest AIXTRON and VEECO are purely equipment manufacturers will not pose a threat to epitaxial wafer manufacturers.
2, localization is difficult (48 briefings in April 2008)
MOCVD equipment is the production of LED epitaxial wafer key equipment, and the level of LED epitaxial wafer determines the level of the entire LED industry. China formally implemented the "National Semiconductor Lighting Project" in 2003, and in the "Tenth Five-Year Plan", "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" key research topics and "863" program. 863" plan, the localization of MOCVD equipment included in the key support direction. Under the support of national policies, China has achieved initial results in the localization of MOCVD equipment during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period. China Electronics Technology Group Corporation Forty-eighth Research Institute through digestion and absorption and key technology re-innovation and other measures, research and development of GaN production MOCVD equipment (6 * 2〃), to fill the gaps in the country, so that the long-term constraints on the development of China's LED industry equipment bottlenecks can be broken. At the same time, the Chinese academy of sciences semiconductor institute, nanchang university, qingdao jiesheng electric unit also successfully developed the research type of MOCVD equipment. However, domestic MOCVD equipment also exists the following problems:
(1) domestic MOCVD equipment is still in the stage of technology tracking, the level of equipment industrialization and production needs do not match
At present, the domestic development of MOCVD equipment for the maximum production capacity of 6 pieces (48 GaN-MOCVD). However, as of December 2007, among the latest MOCVD equipments launched abroad, AIXTRON has launched 42-chip machine for planetary reactor (AIX2800G4 HT) and 30-chip machine for CCS reactor (CRIUS). Due to the gap in capacity, small batch MOCVD equipment epitaxial wafer production costs are higher, greatly reducing the cost-effectiveness of the equipment, so that the domestic equipment has just been developed and has fallen behind. The minimum requirement of mass production enterprises for single batch capacity is more than 30 pieces.
(2) high cost of equipment, application risk, most manufacturers prefer to purchase mature imported equipment
MOCVD equipment is expensive, production MOCVD equipment priced at up to 10 to 20 million yuan. Manufacturers are very cautious about the procurement of such equipment, preferring to purchase imported equipment with mature technology and perfect after-sales service, which puts the promotion of domestic MOCVD equipment in an awkward situation.
(3) Self-innovation needs to be strengthened, and domestic MOCVD equipment faces patent barriers
At present, the research and development of domestic MOCVD equipment is still in the stage of "digesting and absorbing", while the mainstream commercial models from abroad have already set up strict patent protection, such as AIXTRON's Planetary Reactor Reactor, TTG Reactor, TTG Reactor, TTG Reactor, TTG Reactor, TTG Reactor and TTG Reactor. Planetary Reactor, THOMAS SAWN's CCS (Close Coupled Showerhead Reactor) reactor, VEECO's Turbo Disk reactor and Japan's SANSO dual/multibeam TF reactor are all their own proprietary patented technologies, and the industrialization of domestic MOCVD equipment is facing patent barriers. The industrialization of equipment faces the test of patent barriers.
3, China's MOCVD equipment number and growth
High brightness LED strong demand for Taiwan LED manufacturers to expand production ferociously
2007 statistics show that: Taiwan's MOCVD machine number of 310, the mainland region for about 55 units. By the end of 2008, the two regions have accumulated an increase of 126 units.
At the end of 2008, the mainland region increased to 87 units, an increase of 58%, due to a number of manufacturers of equipment in 2008 is mainly the installation of debugging, as well as the process of figuring out the real release of production capacity in 2009.
According to incomplete statistics, in 2009, China's mainland MOCVD equipment, the number of new units will be more than 100 units or so, in terms of numbers, Taiwan manufacturers in the expansion of production capacity ahead of the mainland, crystal power, Can round, Tai Valley this year, has increased the purchase of MOCVD machine, is expected to the end of this year, the crystal power of the total number of MOCVD machine will be up to 180-190, Can round MOCVD machine will reach 33 units, Tai Valley machine will reach 33 units. It is expected that by the end of this year, the total number of MOCVD machines of Epistar will reach 180-190, the total number of MOCVD machines of Canon will reach 33, and the total number of MOCVD machines of Taigu will reach 27.
The company expects to introduce another 30 MOCVDs next year, and the construction will be completed in the second quarter at the earliest, which will bring the total number of MOCVDs in Epistar to 210-220. Canon's internal plan was also to expand 30 MOCVD machines next year, but due to the full order of machines, the first phase was determined to expand 12 machines, and the number of Canon's production machines will then reach 45. Tai Valley has also decided to expand 10 MOCVD machines next year, bringing the total number of MOCVD machines to 37.
Guang Gallium currently **** has 38 MOCVD machines, recently the directors also passed the cash capital increase, is expected to issue 120,000 new shares, to the amount of $ 30 per share tentative estimate, will be able to raise 3.6 billion yuan. It is expected that the funds will be used to expand blue/green LED production capacity, and it is estimated that Gallium will expand another 38-39 MOCVD machines, bringing the total number of production machines to 76-77.
AUO/Londa has recently passed a new plant will be built in the back of the Central Taiwan Science Park, is expected to the end of this year, the total number of MOCVD machine will have 15-20, 2011 before the gradual completion of 150-200 MOCVD machine production scale set up. Chimei Innolux Corporation / Chimei Innolux currently has 37 MOCVD machines in mass production, and the total number of machines is expected to expand to 47 next year.