Recently, Jiangsu Xinhua Semiconductor Materials Technology Co., Ltd. released a message that its production of purity requirements of 99.999999999% of electronic grade polysilicon after a series of rigorous testing, testing, some exports to South Korea, part of the bulk of the domestic wafer processing plant supply. According to industry insiders, this indicates that China’s silicon materials for semiconductor integrated circuits have reached world-class quality standards, and is also the first time that Chinese polysilicon manufacturers export high-purity silicon materials for integrated circuits to the international market. From solar grade polysilicon to electronic grade polysilicon, How far is the middle road, how many technological barriers to be crossed, how polysilicon enterprises are laid out, and industry experts have given answers from different perspectives.
Domestic polysilicon products are still mainly for the photovoltaic market
The development of the solar photovoltaic industry has created the myth of China's polysilicon industry: it has become the world’s largest polysilicon producer. Data show that in 2017, China’s polysilicon production capacity was 270,000 tons, accounting for 54.5% of the world’s total production capacity of 495,600 tons; China’s polysilicon production amounted to 242,000 tons, accounting for 55% of the world’s total output of 440,000 tons. However, the domestic market still has 157,000 tons of polysilicon dependent on imports, while electronic-grade polysilicon is almost entirely dependent on imports.
Chief Engineer of Polysilicon China High-tech Co., Ltd. and director of Polysilicon Materials National Engineering Laboratory Yan Daya provided this year's figures to reporters. He said that as of the end of May 2018, there were 22 polysilicon companies in China with a total capacity of 315,000 tons. Among them, there are 10 companies with a size of 10,000 tons or above, with a total capacity of 264,000 tons, accounting for 83%. There are still a number of enterprises in the new construction and expansion, the production capacity will continue to grow, but the polysilicon produced by domestic polysilicon companies For photovoltaic products.
With the implementation of the leading photovoltaic industry plan, high-quality, high-efficiency batteries have become the new norm in the photovoltaic industry, and the share of monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells continues to increase. The quality of polysilicon is required to be increased. According to the National “Guidelines for photovoltaic manufacturing industry (2018) 》, Newly built, to reconstruct quality requirements for polysilicon projects, to meet the national standard GB/T12963 electronic grade polysilicon grade 2 product standards, polysilicon for photovoltaic manufacturing is no longer synonymous with low-end products, low-quality products will gradually be eliminated. ' Yan Dazhou said .
From photovoltaic grade to electronic grade Polysilicon purity is increased by 2~3 orders of magnitude
Compared with solar-grade polysilicon, electronic-grade polysilicon differs in quality. Popularly speaking, solar-grade polysilicon requires purity of silicon of 9N or more, and electronic-grade polysilicon requires quality of 11N or more. It needs to improve by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. Yan Dazhou told reporters, The national standard GB12963 puts forward specific requirements for the content of electronic grade polysilicon boron, phosphorous and other trivalent and pentavalent impurities, metal impurities and oxygen, carbon impurities, etc., in particular, the content of each impurity must be stable and controllable.
Therefore, from the solar-grade polysilicon to the electronic-grade polysilicon, comprehensive considerations such as processes, technologies, materials, equipment manufacturing, engineering construction, and installation operations must be considered from the beginning of design, and excellence must be achieved in process control of each link. Only in this way, polysilicon companies can achieve major breakthroughs at the current domestic level, producing qualified electronic grade polysilicon products.
Tian Xin, General Manager of Jiangsu Xinhua Semiconductor Materials Technology Co., Ltd. stated: 'As a high-purity material, it is more difficult to purify the material in the succeeding sequence. Polysilicon purification is the highest limit of human industrial purification, and its process can represent the entire human industry purification. The highest level of semiconductors. There is no room for discounts and buffers for semiconductor-grade polysilicon. There is no escape route. It can only go forward. The quality requirements are very demanding. There is a little impurity in any link, and the quality level of products will be affected. 'He stressed that In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to consider the whole project from the beginning of the project construction, instead of upgrading and upgrading some of the links under the existing technology system. The selection and engineering design of the process technology must be strictly in accordance with the requirements of the electronic grade polysilicon. Manufacturing, engineering construction and other aspects are strictly controlled and the level of regulation and operation in the production process is guaranteed.
Ren Xueping, deputy general manager of Qinghai Yellow River Hydropower New Energy Branch, added that in addition to product purity, electronic grade polysilicon products also need to be approved by downstream manufacturers, while downstream users see the stability of product quality. Therefore, polysilicon products are guaranteed. In addition to the purity, the consistency of its products must be ensured. This is also a great challenge for domestic polysilicon companies.
Solar polysilicon and electronic grade polysilicon should develop together
Electronic-grade polycrystalline silicon is a key and basic raw material for the integrated circuit industry. Expanding its localization will be able to get rid of the situation in which China’s strategic raw materials are controlled by people and enhance the strategic security of China’s integrated circuit industry. With the rapid development of China’s integrated circuit industry, electronic-grade polysilicon Demand has accelerated, and it is expected that by 2020, the annual demand for polysilicon for integrated circuits in China will exceed 10,000 tons. Therefore, the development of electronic-grade polysilicon has become a topic that is urgently needed to crack polysilicon enterprises in China.
Yan Dazhou said that China's polysilicon industry has been shifted to Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and other low-priced areas, but the lack of scientific and technical personnel and research conditions in these areas, coupled with sand and other environmental conditions is not conducive to the production of electronic polysilicon. The current research focus is concentrated in the Central Plains, In East China, but these regions suffer from high energy prices, the development space for solar-grade polysilicon production is limited, and it is difficult for the independently-constructed electronic-grade polysilicon projects to become profitable within two to three years after completion. It is recommended that the state give advanced technology for solar polysilicon energy consumption. The polycrystalline silicon companies have preferential energy prices, adopting a collaborative development model of solar polysilicon and electronic grade polysilicon to ensure the continuous research and production of electronic polysilicon. Combined with the development plan of China's integrated circuit industry and large silicon projects, it focuses on the research of process technology for electronic grade polysilicon. With innovation, it supports the integration of electronic-grade polysilicon and large silicon wafers, providing a stable supply of raw materials for the development of the integrated circuit industry.
Ren Xueping told the "China Electronics News" reporter that the long-term monopoly of foreign polysilicon manufacturers, coupled with downstream companies consider the stability of polysilicon products, domestic integrated circuit companies do not want to easily use domestic polysilicon products. And electronic-grade polysilicon products trial, long certification cycle Domestic companies are struggling to expand their markets. Therefore, he recommended that relevant departments guide and encourage the development of upstream and downstream companies, expand the use of domestic electronic grade polysilicon, and provide a stable supply of basic materials for the development of the domestic integrated circuit industry. He also stressed that , The state should give technology-leading polysilicon enterprises energy price concessions to promote enterprises to reduce costs and increase market competitiveness.
Tian Xin believes that the future of the semiconductor industry is related to the national IC industry policy. While focusing on the promotion of industrial technology and the development of the industry chain, it is necessary to focus on technologies and equipment that will win the future, build industrial technology development, and apply basic and leading technologies together. The development of the ecological system. 'At the same time, domestic polysilicon companies should further deepen international cooperation, achieve open innovation, mutual benefit and win-win.' Tian Xin finally said.