The silicon carbide film market is highly competitive, with the integrated circuit field being its largest demand end.

Silicon carbide membrane refers to an inorganic ceramic membrane made of silicon carbide material. Silicon carbide film has the advantages of good chemical stability, dense structure, high dielectric constant, low pinhole density, and good wear resistance. It is widely used in biomedicine, integrated circuits, automobile manufacturing, aerospace and other fields. According to different production processes and structures, silicon carbide membranes can be divided into three types: tubular membranes, sheet membranes and plate membranes.

The main raw material of silicon carbide membrane is silicon carbide (SiC). Silicon carbide is made from wood chips, quartz sand, and coal char through high-temperature smelting. It has the characteristics of high thermal conductivity, good wear resistance, stable chemical properties, and small thermal expansion coefficient. It is used in the fields of building materials, abrasive tools, refractory materials, functional ceramics, etc. widely. In recent years, my country’s silicon carbide production technology has continued to innovate, driving its output to continue to increase. In 2022, my country’s black silicon carbide production will reach 1.058 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%. The advantages of raw materials have laid a good foundation for the development of my country’s silicon carbide membrane industry.

The main preparation methods of silicon carbide films include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD) and direct nitridation. Chemical vapor deposition can be subdivided into plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APVCD) and low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method has the advantages of good film formation uniformity, fast reaction rate, and good bonding between the substrate and the film. It is expected to become the mainstream preparation method of silicon carbide films in the future.

According to the “2023-2028 China Silicon Carbide Membrane Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, Silicon carbide films are mainly used in biomedicine, integrated circuits, automobile manufacturing, aerospace and other fields. The integrated circuit field is its largest demand end. In recent years, overseas developed countries have implemented technological blockades against my country, and coupled with the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, my country’s integrated circuit production has declined. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, my country’s integrated circuit output will reach 324.19 billion units in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 9.8%. In the future, with the rapid economic development and technological progress, my country’s integrated circuit output will pick up, and the application demand for silicon carbide films will further grow.

Competition in the silicon carbide membrane market is fierce, with a large number of manufacturing companies. Hubei Dijie Membrane Technology Co., Ltd., Shandong Seliko Membrane Technology Co., Ltd., Shandong Huaen New Material Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Jian Membrane Technology Co., Ltd., etc. are the main manufacturers of silicon carbide membranes in my country.

Industry analysts said that as an inorganic ceramic membrane, silicon carbide membrane has a wide range of applications and the industry development prospects continue to be good. Benefiting from the sufficient supply of raw materials and the continuous improvement of technology level, the development speed of my country’s silicon carbide membrane industry continues to accelerate. However, at present, there is still a gap between the quality of silicon carbide membranes in my country and developed overseas countries. Local companies still need to increase investment in research and development to improve their competitiveness and product quality.