on april 11, henan daily published a special report titled "opening the new world of silicon-based materials" that focused on china silicon corporation ltd.'s transformation, upgrading, and development.
april 11, 2023, henan daily
the full text is as follows:
opening the new world of silicon-based materials
semiconductors are the cornerstone of the digital economy and the industrial backbone of digital transformation. since the implementation of the digital transformation strategy, henan province has formulated and implemented an action plan for the development of the integrated circuit industry. the province also established the institute of integrated circuit of henan academy of sciences and created a public research and development platform for integrated circuits, which has accelerated the development of the industry. semiconductor material enterprises, represented by china silicon corporation ltd., have achieved numerous breakthroughs in key core technology research and development, as well as in the transformation and application of scientific research achievements. several of its products can replace imported products, thus supporting the development of the electronic information manufacturing industry in henan province.
breakthrough of technology bottlenecks
entering china silicon corporation ltd. in luolong district of luoyang city, the slogan "take national responsibility to fill the gap in basic materials" is prominently displayed in the lobby on the first floor of the office building.
"nowadays, china's photovoltaic industry leads the world, and the localization of polysilicon for photovoltaics began with china silicon high-tech," said zhao xiong, vice general manager of china silicon corporation ltd. he explained that they have built the first domestically-produced, fully self-owned, 1,000-ton polysilicon industrial demonstration line, which has strongly promoted the development of china's photovoltaic industry.
as the market for polysilicon used in photovoltaics has changed, china silicon corporation ltd. has shifted its focus to semiconductor-grade polycrystalline silicon.
in the product display cabinet of china silicon corporation ltd., silicon rods of different sizes are displayed, including photovoltaic polycrystalline silicon and semiconductor-grade polycrystalline silicon. although both are polysilicon, the purity levels differ by at least 2-3 orders of magnitude.
"removing impurities from polysilicon for the semiconductor industry is like finding one person out of a population of one billion," zhao xiong said. semiconductor-grade polysilicon is considered an industry highland and technological peak, and the domestic market has long been monopolized by european and american products.
relying on independent innovation, china silicon corporation ltd. has managed to forge a path forward in a situation where there seemed to be no way out.
hydrogen production and purification, synthesis, hydrogenation, distillation, reduction, tail gas recovery, and post-treatment…. after numerous calculations, comparisons, rejections, and confirmations, china silicon corporation ltd.'s r&d team successfully broke through a series of critical technologies, including high-purity polysilicon reduction technology. this breakthrough has enabled the company to produce high-quality and stable electronic-grade polysilicon products.
the previous "shortcomings" have now become the "springboard" for china silicon corporation ltd.'s transformation and upgrading. the company's high-quality development has also promoted the development of the silicon industry in henan province towards the high-end market.
thanks to the substitution of imported products with domestically-produced alternatives in the semiconductor industry, china silicon corporation ltd.'s new electronic-grade polysilicon products have achieved full coverage in several major domestic leading enterprises in recent years. in 2022, china silicon corporation ltd.'s operating revenue increased by 104% year on year, profit increased by 269% year on year, and tax paid increased by 156% year on year.
continue to innovate and expand the market
entering the electronic gas preparation workshop at china silicon corporation ltd., one will notice that it is quiet and tidy, but there are miraculous changes occurring quietly inside the reactor.
to produce an electronic circuit chip, a total of 110 types of electronic gases are required for the construction and shaping process. among them, silicon-based electronic specialty gases make up nearly half of the total, and the quality of these gases directly affects the quality and performance of the resulting semiconductor integrated circuit chips.
however, many of these required gases are still unable to be produced by domestic companies, which limits the ability to achieve self-reliance in chip technology.
take electronic-grade trichlorosilane as an example. it is a critical basic material in the semiconductor manufacturing process, primarily used in silicon epitaxial deposition and the production of electronic-grade polysilicon. for a long time, it was monopolized by japanese, american, and other foreign companies.
"our technical team has conducted in-depth research over the past two years, designed experimental plans, and persevered through pressure to overcome technical challenges. after conducting hundreds of research demonstrations, we finally succeeded in producing the product and breaking the foreign technological monopoly," said dr. liu jianhua from the r&d center.
as electronic-grade trichlorosilane gradually opened up the market, it started with sales of a few kilograms and has now evolved into large-scale packaging sales of over ten tons per order. the product has also shifted from being used only by epitaxial users to chip manufacturing users. the product has achieved full coverage of domestic customers and is gradually replacing imported products. in 2022, the sales volume of electronic-grade trichlorosilane reached 500 tons and is expected to exceed 1,000 tons this year.
in the past two years, china silicon corporation ltd. has continuously overcome various technical challenges related to electronic gases based on the element "silicon". products such as dichlorosilane, silicon tetrachloride, hexachlorodisilane, and tetramethylsilane have been introduced and widely applied in well-known domestic chip manufacturers. the company has achieved a market share of up to 30% for some of its products. hexachlorodisilane, in particular, has gained a stable user base in both domestic and international advanced 12-inch integrated circuit chip manufacturing plants. the product has achieved a global customer coverage rate of over 30% with a market share exceeding 10%.
good ecology promotes development
in the workshops of china silicon corporation ltd., deep gray electronic-grade polysilicon products with a metallic luster are produced. these products are the result of the significant project "advanced silicon-based optoelectronic functional materials" developed by the company's longmen laboratory.
one year ago, china silicon corporation ltd. became an important member of the longmen laboratory, which was established to focus on key technologies in new materials and intelligent equipment. through collaboration with the laboratory, the company has gained more intellectual support and has been able to explore new directions for innovation.
to further improve the cluster layout of silicon-based materials, china silicon corporation ltd. is planning to launch a transformation and upgrading project for electronic information materials.
on april 9, the reporter visited china silicon corporation ltd.'s new factory located in mengjin district, luoyang city. the area was bustling with activity, and numerous storage tanks and pipelines were being constructed, outlining the future of the new factory.
the project commenced in august 2021, covering a total area of 715 mu and with a total investment of rmb 4.2 billion. after nearly two years of effort, the construction of the phase i project has been completed. since the end of last year, various types of equipment have been installed in the factory, and the final debugging is currently underway.
"the new project started trial production in april and received strong support from various levels of government and departments during the construction process," said zhao xiong. the new project is not only a factory relocation but also a transformation and upgrading. it will bring significant improvements in technology, scale, and efficiency.
several products produced by this project are expected to fill the gap in domestic high-end silicon-based materials. once completed, it will become an innovation center and base for fundamental materials such as zone-melting polysilicon and electronic gases, providing strong support for the development of a multi-billion-yuan electronic information industry cluster in luoyang city.
the project's benefits are considerable. after the first phase of the project is put into operation, it is expected to achieve sales revenue of over rmb 500 million and profits of over rmb 100 million. after the second phase is put into operation, the sales revenue is expected to exceed rmb 2 billion and profits to exceed rmb 500 million. the project will also drive downstream technology progress and industrialization development of zone-melting rods, semiconductor wafers, and other related industries, creating an electronic information materials industrial park that promotes collaborative development throughout the industrial chain.
"focusing on one group, conducting r&d on another group, and achieving breakthroughs on yet another group". at present, china silicon corporation ltd. has successfully tested and certified 10 key basic materials that were previously completely dependent on imports in china. these materials are currently undergoing pilot testing and feasibility studies for their industrialization have been completed.
"we will focus on developing high-end silicon-based materials that are required for the growth of the integrated circuit, optical communication, and new energy industries. we will gradually expand into other related technical fields, creating a national innovation center for forward-looking fundamental materials. our goal is to become a world-class developer of high-end fundamental materials and lead the upgrade of the semiconductor materials industry in henan province," said zhao xiong. (reporter chen hui from henan daily)