The global ceramic substrate market is steadily growing in size!
Ceramic substrate refers to a special process board in which copper foil is directly bonded to the surface (single-sided or double-sided) of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic substrate at high te
Ceramic substrate refers to a special process board in which copper foil is directly bonded to the surface (single-sided or double-sided) of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic substrate at high temperature. The ultra-thin composite substrate produced has excellent electrical insulation performance, high thermal conductivity, excellent solderability, and high adhesion strength. It can also etch various patterns like PCB boards and has great current carrying capacity. Therefore, ceramic substrates have become the fundamental materials for high-power power electronic circuit structure technology and interconnect technology.
The current situation of ceramic substrates: material diversification and structural integration
In recent years, electric vehicles, electric locomotives, semiconductor lighting, aerospace, satellite communication, and other electronic devices have entered a high-speed development stage. Electronic devices are developing towards high power, high frequency, and integration. During the operation of these components, a large amount of heat is generated. If this heat is not dissipated in time, it will affect the efficiency of the chip and even cause damage and failure of the semiconductor device. For electronic devices, the effective life of the device usually decreases by 30% to 50% for every 10 ℃ increase in temperature.
Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of the working process of electronic devices, higher requirements have been put forward for the heat dissipation capability of circuit boards. Traditional ordinary substrates and metal substrates cannot meet the applications in the current working environment. Ceramic substrates stand out due to their excellent insulation performance, high strength, low thermal expansion coefficient, outstanding chemical stability, and thermal conductivity, which meet the performance requirements of current high-power device equipment.
At present, the main materials for ceramic substrates include beryllium oxide (BeO), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), aluminum nitride (AlN), and silicon nitride (Si3N4).
BeO ceramics have high thermal conductivity, but their toxicity and high production costs limit their production and application. Al2O3 ceramic substrates have been widely used due to their low cost and good heat shock resistance. However, due to their relatively low thermal conductivity and mismatched thermal expansion rates, they can no longer fully meet the trend of power devices developing towards high power and miniaturization. The advantages of AlN and Si3N4 ceramic substrates in terms of expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity are considered as future development directions.
Up to now, there have been many developments in the structure and manufacturing process of ceramic substrates. At present, ceramic substrates can be divided into two categories according to the process: flat ceramic substrates and three-dimensional ceramic substrates. The main flat ceramic substrate processes can be divided into thin film ceramic substrates (TFC), thick film printed ceramic substrates (TPC), direct bonded copper ceramic substrates (DBC), active metal welded ceramic substrates (AMB), and direct electroplated copper ceramic substrates (DPC). At present, common three-dimensional ceramic substrates are divided into high-temperature co fired ceramic substrates (HTCC) and low-temperature co fired ceramic substrates (LTCC).
HTCC (High Temperature Co fired Ceramic): belongs to an early developed technology, which is a multi-layer ceramic substrate obtained by co firing ceramics with high melting point metal patterns such as W and Mo. However, due to the high sintering temperature, the selection of electrode materials is limited, and the production cost is relatively high, which has promoted the development of LTCC.
LTCC (Low Temperature Co fired Ceramic): LTCC technology reduces the co firing temperature to about 850 ℃, and achieves circuit wiring in three-dimensional space by stacking and co firing multiple ceramic films with metal patterns printed on them.
DPC (Direct Plating Copper): It is a ceramic circuit processing technology developed on the basis of ceramic film processing. Using ceramics as the substrate for the circuit, a sputtering process is employed to composite a metal layer on the surface of the substrate, and electroplating and photolithography processes are used to form the circuit.
Globally, DPC ceramic substrate manufacturers are mainly located in Taiwan, China and mainland China. After about 2015, some enterprises in Chinese Mainland also joined this industry.
DBC (Direct Bonded Copper): A composite substrate is made by directly sintering copper foil onto the surface of Al2O3 and AlN ceramics at high temperatures using a hot melt bonding method.
At present, global DBC ceramic substrates are mainly dominated by German, Korean, and Chinese companies, with core manufacturers including Rogers and Heraeus from Germany, KCC from South Korea, Jiangsu Fulehua Semiconductor, Hefei Shengda, BYD, and Nanjing Zhongjiang from China. It is expected that Chinese companies will have a larger market share in the coming years.
AMB (Active Metal Brazing): AMB is developed based on DBC technology. At a high temperature of around 800 ℃, AgCu solder containing active elements Ti and Zr wets and reacts at the interface between ceramics and metals, thereby achieving heterogeneous bonding between ceramics and metals.
AMB ceramic substrates are currently mainly held by three companies: Rogers from Germany, Denka from Japan, and Jiangsu Fulehua Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. from China (Ferrotec Holdings from Japan). Other manufacturers started relatively late and have relatively small scales. For example, foreign companies mainly include Heraeus Electronics, Kyocera, Toshiba Materials, Tonghe, KCC from South Korea, and AMOTECH from South Korea. Domestic manufacturers include BYD, Bomin Electronics (Xinzhou), Zhejiang Dehui Electronics, Hefei Shengda, Beijing Moshi Technology, Nantong Wispel Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., and Wuxi Tianyang Electronics Co., Ltd. In the next few years, it is expected that silicon nitride ceramic substrates (AMB-SiN) will grow rapidly.
The global ceramic substrate market is booming, and the market size is steadily growing
The global ceramic substrate market reached 1.13 billion US dollars in 2022 and is expected to reach 4.15 billion US dollars by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.23%.
Among them, the global AMB ceramic substrate market sales reached $433 million in 2022 and are expected to reach $2.872 billion in 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.0% (2023-2029).
The global DBC ceramic substrate market sales reached $440 million in 2022 and are expected to reach $824 million by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.75% (2023-2029).
The global DPC ceramic substrate market sales reached $240 million in 2022 and are expected to reach $327 million by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.43% (2023-2029).
The global DBA ceramic substrate market sales reached $16 million in 2022 and are expected to reach $127 million by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.47% (2023-2029).
The main driving factors in the current market are as follows:
High power IGBT modules continue to drive the expansion of the DBC/AMB ceramic substrate market
DBC ceramic substrates have high-quality properties such as high strength, strong thermal conductivity, and stable bonding, while AMB ceramic substrates are developed on the basis of DBC and have relatively higher bonding strength. In recent years, with the rapid development of new energy vehicles and photovoltaic energy storage industries, the demand for IGBT power modules has grown rapidly, and the demand for DBC and AMB ceramic substrates has also continued to increase.
The demand for LED has increased
LED chips have extremely strict requirements for heat dissipation, and car lighting will further increase the demand for AlN substrates. At present, single-chip 1W high-power LEDs have been industrialized, and 3W, 5W, and even 10W single-chip high-power LEDs have been launched and partially entered the market. This has led to the continuous expansion of the application scope of ultra-high brightness LEDs, gradually moving from the market field of special lighting to the general lighting market. Due to the continuous increase in input power of LED chips, higher requirements have been put forward for the packaging technology of these power type LEDs. However, traditional substrates cannot carry high-power thermal energy. Aluminum nitride ceramics have good thermal conductivity and insulation properties, which can improve the power level and luminous efficiency of LEDs. Power LED has been widely used in outdoor large billboards, small display backlights, car lighting, indoor and special lighting, and other fields.
Third generation semiconductor SIC accelerates on board - AMB benefits rapidly
From the perspective of product market application, automobiles are currently the largest downstream market, occupying approximately 45% of the market share in 2022, and it is expected to further reach 69% in 2029.
SiC accelerates onto the vehicle, benefiting AMB. The thermal expansion coefficient of Si3N4 ceramic substrate is similar to that of third-generation semiconductor substrate SiC crystal, making it more stable in matching with SiC crystal material. Although there is some accumulation of AMB technology in China, the main products are AIN-AMB substrates. Due to the lag of Si3N4 substrate technology, commercial production of Si3N4-AMB has not yet been achieved in China, and the core process is controlled by countries such as the United States, Germany, and Japan.
The demand for domestic substitution is becoming increasingly strong
The Chinese market has undergone rapid changes in the past few years. In 2022, China's ceramic substrate production accounted for approximately 35.9% of the global total, and it is expected to reach 54.9% by 2029. Europe is the second largest market region, with a share of 33% in 2022 and an expected 21.99% in 2029. Japan, Southeast Asia, South Korea and Taiwan, China are also important production regions. Japan is the largest AMB ceramic substrate production region in the world, with a share of 36% in 2022. Southeast Asia (Japan NGK DBC and AMB are produced in Malaysia, and South Korea KCC is built in Vietnam to produce DBC) is also an important DBC and AMB production region.
From the perspective of global manufacturers, the top tier ceramic substrate manufacturers (by revenue) are mainly Rogers, Fulonghua, Denka, and Tongxin Electronics. The core manufacturers of AMB ceramic substrates are mainly Rogers, Fulonghua, Denka, Heraeus, and BYD, while the core manufacturers of DBC are Rogers, Fulonghua NGK Electronics Devices、 Hefei Shengda and BYD are among the core manufacturers of DPC, with Tongxin Electronics being the main player. In terms of DBA, Mitsubishi Materials, Tonghe, Denka, and others are the main players. In the coming years, it is expected that Fulehua and Fujian Huaqing Electronic Materials Technology Co., Ltd. will occupy important positions in the DBA field.
At present, China has basically achieved the import substitution of alumina powder. In terms of aluminum nitride powder, especially aluminum nitride powder, China still relies on imports from Japan, which holds over 60% of the Chinese market share. Imported powder products have good stability and refinement, but the price is about three times that of domestic ordinary nitride aluminum powder, and there is a risk of raw material supply interruption. In terms of silicon nitride powder, only a few powder manufacturers in China have the ability to mass produce and ship it. Although some ceramic substrate enterprises have production capacity, they are mostly for their own use and do not sell it to the outside world.
Due to the fact that the upstream key ceramic powder preparation technology is mastered by Japanese companies, and the powder plays a decisive role in the performance of the substrate, foreign companies have a natural advantage in the production of ceramic substrates. The ceramic substrate market was also monopolized by Kyocera and Maruwa of Japan for a considerable period of time. Against the backdrop of a sharp increase in domestic terminal demand, imported ceramic substrates are gradually unable to meet the requirements of terminal enterprises in terms of product delivery time and price. Downstream manufacturers have an increasingly strong demand for domestic substitution in the domestic ceramic substrate industry chain.