SiC Wafer Laser Cutting Equipment Market Summary
According to the new market research report “Global SiC Wafer Laser Cutting Equipment Market Report 2023-2029”, published by QYResearch, the global SiC Wafer Laser Cutting Equipment market size is projected to reach USD 0.3 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 16.3% during the forecast period.
SiC Wafer Laser Cutting Equipment Product Overview
Silicon carbide (SiC) was discovered in 1893 as an industrial abrasive for grinding wheels and automotive brakes. About midway through the 20th century, SiC wafer uses grew to include in LED technology. Since then, it has expanded into numerous semiconductor applications due to its advantageous physical properties. These properties are apparent in its wide range of uses in and outside the semiconductor industry. With Moore’s Law appearing to reach it’s limit, many companies within the semiconductor industry is looking towards silicon carbide as the semiconductor material of the future.
There are numerous advantages to using silicon carbide over more traditional silicon substrates. One of the major advantages is its hardness. This gives the material many advantages, in high speed, high temperature and/or high voltage applications.
Silicon carbide wafers have high thermal conductivity, which means they can transfer heat from one point to another well. This improves its electrical conductivity and ultimately miniaturization, one of the common goals of switching to SiC wafers.
Silicon carbide substrates also have a low coefficient for thermal expansion. Thermal expansion is the amount and direction a material expands or contracts as it heats up or cools down. The most common explanation is ice, although it behaves opposite of most metals, expanding as it cools and shrinking as it heats up. Silicon carbide’s low coefficient for thermal expansion means that it does not change significantly in size or shape as it is heated up or cooled down, which makes it perfect for fitting into small devices and packing more transistors onto a single chip.
SiC has the similar hardness as the diamond. Hence dicing the SiC by diamond blade will produce defects of chipping and crack which will induce the current leakage that can’t meet the strict demand of automobile applications.
The scheme of laser cutting silicon carbide is laser modified cutting technology. The principle is to use a laser beam with a high transmission wavelength to focus on the inside of the wafer through a lens, and multiphoton absorption occurs, resulting in a local deformation layer, namely modified layer. The layer is mainly composed of holes, high dislocation density layers and cracks. The modified layer is the starting point of subsequent wafer dicing and cracking. The modified layer can be confined inside the wafer by optimizing the laser and optical path system, and no thermal damage is caused to the surface and bottom of the wafer. Then, use external force to guide the cracks to the surface and bottom of the wafer, separating the wafer into the required size.
According to QYResearch Top Players Research Center, the global key manufacturers of SiC Wafer Laser Cutting Equipment include DISCO Corporation, Suzhou Delphi Laser Co, Han's Laser Technology, 3D-Micromac, Synova S.A., etc. In 2022, the global top four players had a share approximately 72.0% in terms of revenue.
According to QYResearch Top Players Research Center, the global key manufacturers of SiC Wafer Laser Cutting Equipment include DISCO Corporation, Suzhou Delphi Laser Co, etc. In 2022, the global top three players had a share approximately 64.0% in terms of revenue.
In terms of product type, currently Processing Sizes up to 6 Inches is the largest segment, hold a share of 76.1%.
In terms of product application, currently Foundry is the largest segment, hold a share of 63.3%.
Market Drivers:
Driver 1: Judging from the compound annual growth rate in the past ten years, the demand for packaging and testing equipment in developing countries is more vigorous. Due to the current shortage of chips in the chip market, the packaging and testing industry is seeking capital expansion and actively expanding production capacity.
Driver 2: As the penetration rate of silicon carbide devices in new energy vehicles, energy, industry, communications and other fields increases, the market demand for silicon carbide laser cutting.
Restraint:
Restraint 1: It is precisely under the impact of geopolitical normalization and sudden crises such as the epidemic that the semiconductor industry increasingly needs to establish resilient supply chains in multiple regions of the world to avoid the risk of supply disruptions.
Restraint 2: Due to the particularity of the semiconductor industry, many countries strictly control the technology of high-precision equipment, which largely limits the entry of enterprises.
Opportunity:
The United States, Europe, Japan and other countries have laid out in the semiconductor industry one after another. Investment subsidies and tax relief have greatly promoted the development of the local semiconductor industry and driven the market for related industries.
Compared with the traditional grinding wheel cutting and laser ablation, the laser stealth cutting method has better scribing quality and high scribing efficiency, and can realize irregular-shaped chip dicing, which improves the wafer output rate. These advantages make laser stealth dicing become the mainstream of wafer scribing technology, and even an indispensable technology for MEMS device chip manufacturing.
About The Authors
Wangzhuang - Lead Author
Email: wangzhuang@qyresearch.com
John is a technology & market senior analyst specializing in semiconductor devices, materials, and equipment. Wang has 3 years’ experience in semiconductor and focuses on Chemicals, consumer goods, food and beverages, machinery and equipment, software and business services, etc. He is engaged in the development of technology and market reports and is also involved in custom projects.
About QYResearch
QYResearch founded in California, USA in 2007.It is a leading global market research and consulting company. With over 16 years’ experience and professional research team in various cities over the world QY Research focuses on management consulting, database and seminar services, IPO consulting, industry chain research and customized research to help our clients in providing non-linear revenue model and make them successful. We are globally recognized for our expansive portfolio of services, good corporate citizenship, and our strong commitment to sustainability. Up to now, we have cooperated with more than 60,000 clients across five continents. Let’s work closely with you and build a bold and better future.
QYResearch is a world-renowned large-scale consulting company. The industry covers various high-tech industry chain market segments, spanning the semiconductor industry chain (semiconductor equipment and parts, semiconductor materials, ICs, Foundry, packaging and testing, discrete devices, sensors, optoelectronic devices), photovoltaic industry chain (equipment, cells, modules, auxiliary material brackets, inverters, power station terminals), new energy automobile industry chain (batteries and materials, auto parts, batteries, motors, electronic control, automotive semiconductors, etc.), communication industry chain (communication system equipment, terminal equipment, electronic components, RF front-end, optical modules, 4G/5G/6G, broadband, IoT, digital economy, AI), advanced materials industry Chain (metal materials, polymer materials, ceramic materials, nano materials, etc.), machinery manufacturing industry chain (CNC machine tools, construction machinery, electrical machinery, 3C automation, industrial robots, lasers, industrial control, drones), food, beverages and pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, agriculture, etc.