China is set to mass-produce wafers made of silicon carbide, which has higher capacity to diffuse electricity, more efficient voltage transmission, and better speed switching than the old version. (Photo : www.itersnews.com)
China is set to produce silicon carbide (SIC) wafers, as SICC Materials, a company based in Shandong, announced on July 6 that they have successfully found a way to mass-produce SIC wafers, claiming an annual production that could reach 400,000 to 500,000 wafers, the Guancha Syndicate reported.
Wafers are usually made from SI, a chemical compound found in silica sand, which is the most essential material for making electronics components and high-tech instruments. SIC wafers have higher quality than SI wafers, but technology for mass production did not exist until recently when a Chinese company made this recent announcement.
According to the report, the new SIC wafer is made of silicon carbide, an artificial compound made of silicon and carbon. Wafers made from the compound material have a higher capacity to diffuse electricity, more efficient voltage transmission, and better speed switching than the traditional SI wafers.
In addition, SIC wafers also perform higher than SI and gallium arsenide, especially in applications for aviation technology, microwave transmission and electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment.
The report said that China could use SIC wafers made domestically to make high-tech instruments instead of depending on SI wafers imported from abroad to make electronics, which would be feasible if what SICC Materials claims is true.
SICC Materials, however, has not provided details on the plans for the mass production of the wafers.
According to a report published in Business Wire, China, being a major producer and exporter of silicon carbide, contributes about 80 percent to the global silicon carbide capacity.
The country has exported 286,800 tons of silicon carbide in 2013 after the abolition of the export quota system, up 73.8 percent year on year. From January to November of 2014, China's silicon carbide export volume reached 289,800 tons.
