A new project aims to establish a complete manufacturing chain for diamond semiconductors, supporting future applications in AI, communications and electric vehicles.
China has initiated a project that seeks to develop the nation’s first integrated industrial chain for fourth generation semiconductor materials using diamond technology. The manufacturing plant will be set up in Zhengzhou High-tech Zone, Henan province, after signing an investment agreement with Zhongke Powder Research (Henan) Superhard Materials Co., Ltd.
The factory is expected to establish a complete manufacturing chain including CVD equipment, single crystal growth, epitaxy, micro- and nano- processing as well as advanced packaging substrates. With the support of Central South University, the project will boost the domestic semiconductor value chain and help develop Henan’s existing diamond industry into semiconductor manufacturing.
Fourth generation semiconductors utilize ultra-wide bandgap materials that include diamond and gallium oxide and have wider bandgaps, higher breakdown electric field and superior thermal conductivity than conventional semiconductor material. According to the press release, this material would be used for developing AI chips, electronic thermal management, 5G and 6G communications, electric vehicles and biomedical technologies.
This new production base would use the firm’s unique LPPHT diamond technology. This new facility would install 500 Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (MPCVD) systems capable of manufacturing 2-inch to 4-inch single crystal diamond wafers and 50 production lines for manufacturing spherical micro- and nano diamond powders.
According to the roadmap, the initial MPCVD systems are expected to become operational first, followed by full-scale production within three years.
At the signing ceremony, company chairman Chen Zemin said, “The construction of this base will propel micro/nano diamonds from the laboratory to large-scale industrialization.”
