It is reported that Zhanxin Electronics has orderly advanced its Series C financing process, and after the first batch of funds was delivered in Series C at the beginning of the year, multiple investment institutions have followed up with their investments. This round of financing is led by the China Development Bank Manufacturing Industry Transformation and Upgrading Fund, with joint investment from CICC Capital, Beijing Green Energy and Low Carbon Industry Fund, International Fund, China Investment IC Fund, Jinshi Investment, Haiwang Capital, and Xinxin. Since its establishment in 2017, Zhanxin Electronics has relied on its outstanding performance and development potential in the field of silicon carbide, with a cumulative financing scale of nearly 3 billion yuan, laying a solid financial foundation for the company to continue to cultivate the silicon carbide industry.
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The 'Hot Challenge' of Advanced Packaging
In the rapidly developing semiconductor industry, the advanced packaging field is facing severe "thermal challenges". Currently, semiconductor products are evolving from two-dimensional to three-dimensional directions, and new packaging methods such as system level packaging (SiP) are constantly emerging. Advanced packaging technologies such as flip chip, bumping, wafer level package, 2.5D interconnect, RDL, and 3D TSV are also becoming increasingly mature and widely used.
However, behind technological advancements, the issue of heat dissipation has become increasingly prominent.
Advanced packaging technologies such as 2.5D/3D packaging Chiplet, By tightly integrating multiple computing chips, high bandwidth memory, and other components into a small space, the heat generated per unit area (heat flux density) rapidly increases, even exceeding 1000 W/cm ² in some scenarios. This value far exceeds the carrying limit of traditional air cooling and even some liquid cooling technologies. In a 3D stacked structure, the heat generated by the bottom chip needs to penetrate multiple structures such as the middle chip and adhesive layer to reach the heat sink. This not only greatly extends the heat conduction path, but also significantly increases the thermal resistance, making it highly susceptible to local overheating (Hot Spot) phenomenon. In addition, there are differences in the thermal expansion coefficients of different materials (such as silicon, oxides, and metals) in the packaging structure, which can generate stress during high-temperature cycling and have a serious impact on the reliability and service life of the product.
Recently, Taiwan, China media reported that Nvidia is planning to use a 12 inch silicon carbide (SiC) substrate in the advanced packaging of the new generation of GPU chips, which aims to solve the increasingly prominent heat dissipation problem of AI chips and further improve their performance. Relevant technologies will be introduced and applied no later than 2027. Although Nvidia has not officially released any relevant information, this development undoubtedly highlights the important value and broad application prospects of silicon carbide in the field of heat dissipation.
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The 'heat dissipation advantage' of silicon carbide
The reason why silicon carbide can stand out in the field of heat dissipation is due to its outstanding performance advantages.
High thermal conductivity: Silicon carbide itself is an excellent thermal conductive material. Its thermal conductivity (about 270-490 W/m · K) is much higher than traditional packaging substrate materials, such as aluminum oxide (about 20 W/m · K) or even aluminum nitride (about 180 W/m · K). This means that SiC can more quickly diffuse the heat generated by the chip laterally, avoiding the formation of local hotspots.
The thermal expansion coefficient matched with silicon: The thermal expansion coefficient of SiC is very close to that of silicon chips. This can greatly reduce the stress between the chip and the substrate during temperature changes, improving the reliability and lifespan of the packaging.
Excellent mechanical strength and electrical insulation: SiC itself is an insulator (semi insulating SiC), which can be used as an ideal circuit substrate; At the same time, it has high hardness and can provide good mechanical support.
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Application forms of silicon carbide in advanced packaging
Silicon carbide is not directly used as a chip material, but is integrated into the packaging structure as a heat dissipation substrate or intermediate layer.
4.1 As a high thermal conductivity packaging substrate
Application scenarios: Mainly used for packaging high-power RF devices, lasers (LD), high-power integrated circuits (IC), and GPU/AI chips.
Working principle: Die Attach the chip directly onto a SiC substrate. The heat generated by the chip rapidly diffuses laterally through the SiC substrate and is then transferred to the top heat sink or the bottom liquid cooling system. Due to the high thermal conductivity of SiC, heat is not trapped directly beneath the chip, resulting in significantly improved heat dissipation efficiency.
Technological evolution: In addition to the monolithic SiC substrate, metal matrix composites reinforced with silicon carbide particles (such as SiC/Al, SiC/Cu) have also been developed, which not only ensure high thermal conductivity but also possess the machinability and controllable thermal expansion coefficient of metals.
4.2 As a microchannel liquid cooled substrate
Application scenarios: Targeting scenarios with the highest heat flux density, such as next-generation AI acceleration chips and high-performance computing (HPC) chips.
Working principle: This is one of the most cutting-edge applications. Directly manufacture micro scale cooling channels on SiC substrates through precision machining techniques such as laser processing and etching. Coolant (usually deionized water) flows through these microchannels to achieve "close fitting" liquid cooling of the chip. Due to the high thermal conductivity and chemical inertness of SiC, it can efficiently transfer the heat of the chip to the coolant while withstanding the corrosion of the coolant.
Advantages: Integrating the heat dissipation system with the packaging substrate greatly shortens the thermal path and has extremely low thermal resistance, making it one of the most effective solutions for heat dissipation of kilowatt level chips at present.
4.3 As a thermal diffusion sheet
In 3D stacked packaging, a thin layer of SiC can be inserted as a thermal diffusion layer between different core particles to help quickly direct the heat inside the stack to the heat dissipation structure at the edge of the packaging.
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About Zhanxin Electronics
Zhanxin Electronics was founded in 2017 and is a high-tech chip company focused on the field of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors. It is committed to developing SiC power devices, driver and control chips, SiC power module products, and providing customers with one-stop (Turn key) chip solutions around SiC power semiconductor applications.
Zhanxin Electronics is the first company in China to independently develop and master 6-inch SiC MOSFET products and process platforms, and has built a SiC wafer fab designed according to automotive grade standards. Zhanxin Electronics has made significant achievements in the research and commercial application of silicon carbide products. It has successfully mass-produced three generations of silicon carbide (SiC) power device products, and its core technical indicators have reached the industry-leading level. In terms of customer cooperation, the company has achieved large-scale shipments to multiple well-known new energy vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers. The products are widely used in key areas such as on-board power supply (OBC/DCDC), air conditioning compressors, and electric drives for new energy vehicles; At the same time, stable supply relationships have been established with many well-known customers in industries such as photovoltaics, energy storage, charging stations, and industrial power sources, and market recognition continues to increase.
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summary
Regarding the purpose of this financing, Zhanxin Electronics has clearly stated that it will mainly invest in three core areas: expanding its own silicon carbide (SiC) production capacity, product research and development, and operation and market promotion. By expanding production capacity, we can further enhance our product supply capability and meet the growing demand in the market; Increasing investment in product research and development can continuously optimize product performance and enhance core competitiveness; Strengthening operations and market promotion can help enhance brand influence, accelerate the domestic substitution process of silicon carbide devices, and promote the development of the domestic silicon carbide industry.