Event: On December 13, 2023, Jingsheng Electromechanical exhibited 8-inch silicon carbide substrates and 8-inch epitaxial growth equipment at the SEMICON JAPAN 2023 semiconductor exhibition in Tokyo, Japan. 8-inch silicon carbide substrates have already been mass-produced.
Jingsheng realized the self-manufacture of silicon carbide equipment and mastered the core long crystal process. Jingsheng began research and development of silicon carbide crystal growth equipment and processes in 2017. (1) Equipment: The company firmly adheres to the electrical resistance method technology route and established a Changjing laboratory and pilot line in 2020. Currently, both Changjing and core processing equipment are self-manufactured, and the equipment localization rate has reached more than 90%.
(2) Process: The most difficult part of silicon carbide substrate long crystals is the control of temperature, gas, and pressure. Mastering the process determines the level of yield. The advantage of Jingsheng photovoltaic single crystal furnaces is that they are made by software algorithms. At the same time, sapphire long crystals have also accumulated experience and continued to be applied to silicon carbide long crystals.
The production capacity is compatible with 6-8 inches, and 8 inches is the future focus. Jingsheng has planned a production capacity of 250,000 6-inch sheets and 50,000 8-inch substrates. The equipment is compatible with 6-8 inch substrates from long crystal, slicing, thinnering/grinding, polishing, and cleaning/inspection. With the recent gradual increase in yield & interpretation of Moore's Law, 8 inch will quickly replace 6 inch. In the future, after 8 inch volume is released, the production capacity planned by Jingsheng can be switched to 8 inch production mainly.
The substrate has excellent performance, and cooperation has been reached with SMIC and others. At present, 8-inch silicon carbide substrates have been mass-produced, and 8-inch substrates with two thicknesses of 500um and 350um can be provided to meet different customer requirements. Can the core misalignment of 6-inch and 8-inch mass-produced chips stably achieve TSD <100 pcs/cm? , BPD <400 pcs/cm? , reaching the leading level in the industry. The core misalignment of the latest R&D data has been further improved. TSD and BPD are approaching 0 in more than 90% of the area. The goal is to promote mass production from R&D in 2024, and finally achieve the goal of “TSDFREE+ near BPD FREE”. Major customers include SMIC Integration, etc.
The layout of silicon carbide epitaxial equipment (MOCVD) is arranged in collaboration with the substrate. Jingsheng is a domestic leader. It launched 6-inch double-chip epitaxial equipment in February 2023, and 8-inch monolithic equipment in June of the same year. It is compatible with 6- and 8-inch production, solving the temperature field uniformity, flow field uniformity, etc. in cavity design. The thickness uniformity of epitaxial thickness is within 1.5% and doping uniformity is within 4%. Downstream epitaxial film manufacturers are Jingsheng substrate+epitaxial equipment customers, forming a collaboration.
Profit forecast and investment rating: PV equipment is the first curve of Jingsheng Mechatronics growth, the second curve is the volume of photovoltaic consumables and semiconductor consumables, and the third curve is the volume of silicon carbide equipment+materials and semiconductor equipment. We maintained the company's net profit of 47/58/70 billion yuan in 2023-2025, corresponding to PE of 11/9/8 times, and maintained a “buy” rating.
Risk warning: Downstream production expansion fell short of expectations, and new product expansion fell short of expectations.