Gallium Oxide Semiconductors: Market Trends and Future Outlook (2024)

【Japanese point of view】

Gallium Oxide: A Promising Material for Next-Generation Power Semiconductors

Gallium oxide is a promising material for next-generation power semiconductors. It offers high performance and low cost, and the market for gallium oxide power semiconductors is expected to reach $590 million by 2030.

Japanese companies are leading the research and development of gallium oxide. Novel Crystal Technology(ノベルクリスタルテクノロジー社) and FLOSFIA(FLOSFIA社) are two companies that are developing and manufacturing gallium oxide wafers and power devices.

Gallium oxide has the potential to revolutionize the power semiconductor industry. It offers superior performance to silicon, silicon carbide, and gallium nitride.

The demand for gallium oxide-related technologies and products is expected to grow as electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy become more widespread.

Gallium Oxide Semiconductor Materials: Global Sales Volume Ranking

Rank	Company	Country	Sales (Millions of Dollars)
1	Novel Crystal Technology	Japan	12.5
2	FLOSFIA	Japan	8.7
3	Tamra Manufacturing	Japan	6.3
4	Rohm	Japan	5.2
5	Denso	Japan	4.1
6	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries	Japan	3.9

Japanese companies dominate the gallium oxide market.

Japan is at the forefront of gallium oxide technology development.

Japanese Stocks

Among the companies that are developing or manufacturing gallium oxide power semiconductors, the following Japanese stock tickers are worth noting for their relationships with the two promising companies:

Novel Crystal Technology Corporation

Novel Crystal Technology is a company that develops, manufactures, and sells gallium oxide wafers. In December 2023, the company received investment from Daiyo Nissha and Mitsubishi Electric, among others, to strengthen its mass production capabilities.

Tamra Manufacturing is the parent company of Novel Crystal Technology and its largest shareholder. Tamra Manufacturing collaborates with Novel Crystal Technology on gallium oxide research and development.

Novel Crystal Technology develops, manufactures, and sells epitaxial wafers of gallium oxide.

News

• January 9, 2024: Adoption of gallium oxide for power semiconductors accelerates as Novel Crystal Technology succeeds in manufacturing 6-inch gallium oxide single crystals.
• Related companies:
  • TAMURA CORP.(6768)
  • Nippon Sanso Holdings CORP. (4091)
  • MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP. (6503)

FLOSFIA Corporation

FLOSFIA is a venture company founded by Kyoto University that develops gallium oxide power semiconductors. Gallium oxide using the company’s proprietary film-forming technology is attracting attention as a high-quality and efficient product.

Denso participated in FLOSFIA’s Series E round of funding and is also jointly developing gallium oxide power devices for automotive applications.

News

• March 15, 2023: FLOSFIA and JSR make progress toward commercialization of the world’s first P-type semiconductor, gallium oxide iridium oxide, resolving the P-layer challenge of gallium oxide!
• Related stocks:
  • DENSO CORP. (6902)
  • FUJIMI INC. (5384)
  • JSR CORP. (4185)

Gallium Oxide: The Potential for Adoption

Gallium oxide is a next-generation power semiconductor material that offers superior performance to silicon, silicon carbide, and gallium nitride in terms of breakdown voltage, low loss, and high frequency characteristics. It can also be grown as a bulk single crystal from a melt, which could potentially reduce the cost of wafer manufacturing.

The potential for adoption of gallium oxide can be inferred from the history of semiconductors. For example:

• The history of semiconductors was greatly advanced by the invention of transistors and integrated circuits. The development of new devices and circuits will also be the key to the adoption of gallium oxide.
• The history of semiconductors was also accelerated by the expansion of application areas such as calculators and computers. The adoption of gallium oxide in areas such as power, communications, automotive, and aerospace will also be a factor in its adoption.
• The history of semiconductors was also influenced by research and development investment and policies by governments and companies. Government support and protection measures such as research and development budgets and export restrictions will also be needed for technological innovation and improvement of competitiveness.

In conclusion, the potential for adoption of gallium oxide can be learned from the history of semiconductors. However, gallium oxide is still a technology in the research and development stage, and there are still many challenges and uncertainties in its market introduction and adoption.

Other stocks related to gallium oxide include:

• Companies that manufacture and sell gallium and oxygen, the raw materials needed to manufacture gallium oxide.
• Companies that manufacture and sell equipment and facilities needed to manufacture gallium oxide power semiconductors.
• Companies that manufacture and sell products that incorporate gallium oxide power semiconductors.

Worldwide Gallium Oxide Production

The following is a ranking of countries with the highest production of gallium oxide for semiconductors:

Rank	Country	Production (tons)
1	China	1,200
2	Germany	300
3	Kazakhstan	200
4	Ukraine	100
5	Japan	77

China accounts for about 75% of the world’s gallium oxide production, giving it a dominant market share. Japan produces a large amount of recycled gallium from process scraps generated by compound semiconductor manufacturers.

Semiconductor Materials and Key Technologies: History and Outlook

In the 2020s and beyond, in addition to technological development to break through the limits of silicon, the development of new materials is also expected to progress, opening up new possibilities.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) has a higher thermal conductivity than silicon, making it suitable for high-speed operation and low power consumption. Aluminum nitride (AlN) also has higher heat resistance and radiation resistance than silicon, making it suitable for use in high-temperature or radiation-rich environments.

These new materials have not yet been commercialized, but they are expected to play an important role in the advancement of semiconductor technology in the future.

Specifically, the following applications are expected:

• Gallium oxide: High-speed communication devices such as 5G and next-generation wireless communications
• High-performance computing devices such as AI and machine learning
• Aluminum nitride: Electronic devices used in high-temperature environments such as spacecraft and nuclear power plants
• Electronic devices used in radiation environments such as medical devices and industrial equipment

Era	Material	Key Technology
1940s	Germanium transistor
1950s	Silicon IC
1960s	Silicon integrated circuit miniaturization
1970s	Large-scale integrated circuit (LSI)
1980s	Very large-scale integrated circuit (VLSI)
1990s	Ultra-large-scale integrated circuit (ULSI)
2000s	Nanometre semiconductor
2010s	Silicon, carbon semiconductor, gallium nitride	Quantum computer, AI
2020s and beyond	Silicon, heterogeneous integration, gallium oxide, aluminum nitride	High-speed communication, low power consumption, high durability

What comes after gallium oxide?

The next semiconductor material to be considered after gallium oxide is called “ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor”, such as diamond and aluminum nitride.

These materials are expected to have a larger bandgap than gallium oxide, and to be able to withstand higher voltage, higher frequency, and higher temperature.

However, they are still in the research and development stage, and there are many challenges to be overcome before they can be commercialized.