How Big Is the Silicon Carbide (CVD-SiC) Market ? Why Is It Critical？
By Sera Lee (Sales) @ semicera semiconductor technology co., ltd.
In the wave of innovation of third-generation semiconductors, breakthroughs in materials have always been the core driving force of industrial development. Relying on purity, thermal conductivity, and stability far superior to traditional materials, Chemical Vapor Deposition Silicon Carbide (CVD-SiC) is rapidly upgrading from a “key supporting material” in semiconductor equipment to a “core material” empowering multiple high-end fields. Its market potential is no longer limited to a single segment; instead, it is accelerating toward full-scenario penetration.
For enterprises deeply engaged in high-end manufacturing, understanding the application logic of CVD-SiC is equivalent to holding the key to the next round of industrial growth.
Semiconductor Manufacturing: The “Invisible Armor” of Chip Production
The precision and stability of core semiconductor process equipment directly determine chip yield and performance, while key components such as focus rings and edge rings have long faced extreme operating conditions such as high temperature and plasma corrosion. Traditional materials struggle to balance durability and compatibility. From the perspective of international industrial logic, material upgrades for such core components are an inevitable requirement for semiconductor processes to break through to sub-7nm nodes. With its nearly perfect high-temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, CVD-SiC has become the consensus choice of global semiconductor equipment manufacturers, and its market share shows a strong binding relationship with the scale of the semiconductor equipment market.
In the global market, the 2023 Mid-Term Management Plan (T-2026) annual report of Tokai Carbon (Japan) clearly states that the company has an “overwhelming market share” in solid SiC focus rings and will continue to increase investment in its high-purity SiC product line in the coming years. Its SiC focus rings are widely used by global semiconductor equipment manufacturers. As an industry benchmark, Tokai Carbon’s products have become the first choice for major manufacturers with high reliability.
As the “performance enhancer” of solid-SiC components, CVD-SiC coatings can further amplify the ability of core components to adapt to extreme environments in terms of interface, corrosion resistance, and structural stability. Traditional oxide and nitride coatings tend to experience interface delamination, particle peeling, and microcrack propagation under high-power plasma etching or high-temperature annealing, resulting in reduced component lifetime and increased chamber particle contamination, ultimately affecting chip yield.
In contrast, CVD-SiC coatings have higher density (>98%) and lower porosity, strong interfacial adhesion, and strong plasma corrosion resistance. They can maintain long-term structural stability under high-energy etching conditions and are the mainstream reinforcement solution widely adopted in global semiconductor equipment. For example, Ferrotec (Japan) applies high-density CVD-SiC coating technology to its plasma etching chamber components, which can significantly improve the resistance to fluorine-based plasma corrosion and extend the lifetime by 2–3 times compared with traditional coatings. With this technology, core components such as focus rings and edge rings can maintain stable structure and low delamination rates under 800–1200°C high-temperature and strong-corrosion environments, effectively reducing chamber cleaning frequency, lowering equipment maintenance costs, and improving overall process yield.
Polycrystalline SiC Bonded Wafers and High-Purity SiC Raw Materials: Core Increment Areas for Upstream–Downstream Collaboration
In the global power semiconductor industry, SiC devices have become the mainstream alternative to silicon-based devices. The two key issues in industry development are “downstream device cost reduction” and “upstream raw material quality improvement.” Among them, polycrystalline SiC bonded wafer technology is becoming a key direction of industry focus. Soitec is an important player in this field. Its SmartSiC technology combined with the SmartCut process can reuse high-quality SiC single-crystal substrates multiple times (according to public information), which may greatly reduce the cost of single-crystal SiC substrates.
The rapid rise of this core track is supported by breakthroughs in upstream high-purity SiC raw materials. Traditional SiC raw materials prepared using the Acheson method (high-temperature self-propagation method) generally have problems such as low bulk density, uneven particle size distribution, and carbon-encapsulation defects, making them difficult to meet the stringent requirements of high-end bonded wafers for uniform crystal growth. In contrast, CVD-prepared high-purity SiC raw materials offer significant advantages: purity up to 7N (nitrogen concentration ≤5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm³), carbon–silicon ratio close to 1:1, stable evaporation rate, improved uniformity and efficiency of PVT crystal growth by more than 40%, and reduced carbon-encapsulation defects by 80%. They are the core guarantee for mass production of 8-inch and larger bonded wafers. Currently, international giants such as Wolfspeed and ROHM have fully adopted CVD-based high-purity raw materials, and Germany’s Aixtron has become a core supplier due to its mature mass-production technology.
Breakthrough and Expansion: The “New Blue Ocean” of CVD-SiC Beyond Semiconductors
While establishing foundations in the semiconductor field, CVD-SiC, relying on its unique property combination unmatched by traditional materials, is rapidly “breaking through” into emerging application fields, with global enterprises competing to seize the opportunity.
(1) AR/VR Optical Lenses: The Competition for Lightweight and High Transparency
The global AR/VR industry is transitioning from consumer-level experimentation to professional and regular applications. Lightweight devices and high immersion have become core user demands. As the key component of visual output, the performance of optical lenses directly determines user experience. Traditional optical materials have difficult-to-balance contradictions among thickness, transmittance, and heat resistance. With ultra-thinness, high transparency, and absence of optical defects, CVD-SiC perfectly matches the technological evolution direction of next-generation AR/VR devices and has become the key material for leading global companies to break product-experience bottlenecks.
(2) Aerospace and Defense: The Material Battle in Extreme Environments
The operating environment of aerospace and defense equipment is extremely complex, involving high temperature, high pressure, strong impact, and strong radiation, and the reliability of materials is directly related to the performance and success of equipment. From the perspective of international competition, self-control of high-performance materials is an important guarantee of national defense security. CVD-SiC combines high hardness, impact resistance, high-temperature tolerance, and infrared transparency, matching the requirements of key components such as infrared-guided systems and space detection, and becoming a strategic material heavily deployed by global military powers.
In aerospace and defense fields, the requirements for material adaptability to extreme environments are stringent. The high hardness, impact resistance, high-temperature resistance, and infrared transparency of CVD-SiC make it an ideal material for key components such as infrared-guided windows. Mersen Boostec of France has obtained certification from CNES due to its excellent SiC product performance. Its products are widely used in space telescope structural components and aerospace equipment, with deep cooperation with Airbus and other aerospace companies.
(3) Thermal Management of High-End Electronic Equipment: A Global Competition Focus for High-Thermal-Conductivity SiC
As global high-end electronic equipment evolves toward high-frequency, high-power, and miniaturization, heat dissipation has become the core bottleneck restricting performance and lifetime. Traditional copper and aluminum materials have approached physical limits (copper ~401 W/m·K, aluminum ~237 W/m·K), making them unable to meet extreme cooling demands of high-frequency semiconductor devices, high-end medical equipment, advanced displays, and aerospace electronics.
High-thermal-conductivity SiC (CVD-SiC being the core preparation technology), with much higher thermal conductivity than traditional materials, has become the “ultimate solution” to this pain point and a hot track in global high-end manufacturing, with market demand and technological upgrades proceeding in sync.
Its core competitiveness comes from excellent thermal performance: high-quality 3C-SiC thin films have extremely high thermal conductivity (>500 W/m·K), and interface thermal conductance (TBC) between bonded materials remains excellent under high-temperature conditions. It far exceeds copper and aluminum, while also being lightweight, high-temperature resistant, and chemically stable—achieving efficient heat conduction in small spaces without the performance decay of traditional cooling materials due to oxidation or deformation.
This “high-efficiency heat dissipation + multi-scenario adaptability” combination makes it a core component in high-power semiconductor devices, medical laser chips, advanced display panels, aerospace electronic equipment, etc. For example, Wolfspeed’s 8-inch high-thermal-conductivity SiC substrates push forward their large-scale application in high-power electronics; Morgan Advanced Materials (UK) has launched commercial CVD-SiC heat management components for high-heat-flux and corrosive environments; Zhejiang Liufang (China) continues to make breakthroughs in CVD-SiC coatings and dense-material preparation technologies, with prototype SiC cooling substrates entering key customer testing.
4. Why Is CVD-SiC Critical at This Moment?
The core value of CVD-SiC has long surpassed the material itself and become a “key variable” in the upgrading of global high-end manufacturing. Its current importance is reflected in three dimensions:
Industrial Logic: Breaking Fundamental Bottlenecks of Traditional Materials
In semiconductors, as process nodes shrink, materials face higher requirements for temperature and corrosion resistance, and CVD-SiC is one of the few materials that can operate stably under high-temperature plasma. In aerospace and high-reliability structural components, traditional ceramics or metals have lifetime or stability limitations under extreme shock, radiation, and high temperature, while CVD-SiC—with high strength, high purity, and good thermal stability—is regarded as a key material that can replace traditional materials in extreme environments. For AR/VR optical systems, the demand for lightweight and high optical quality (such as zero dispersion and heat resistance) also provides broad application space for CVD-SiC.
Market Space: Multi-Track Forces Driving Tens of Billions of Dollars in Incremental Value
According to QYResearch, the global CVD-SiC market size in 2023 was about USD 860 million, and is expected to grow to USD 1.604 billion by 2030 (CAGR ≈ 9.1%). According to Business Research Insights, the global SiC coating market (including CVD-SiC) was USD 5.53 billion in 2024. For the SiC-coated graphite susceptor market, WiseGuy forecasts its size to reach about USD 2.13 billion in 2024. These data show that CVD-SiC is not limited to a single segment but is unlocking a multi-billion-dollar growth opportunity driven by multiple application scenarios (semiconductors, coatings, thermal management, etc.).
Competitive Landscape: Technical Barriers and Strategic First-Mover Advantage
From the competitive perspective, CVD-SiC is a “must-contend-for” field for global high-end manufacturing enterprises. Leading companies dominate through technological accumulation. During this key window, whoever masters core CVD-SiC technology and full-scenario application capabilities will gain discourse power in third-generation semiconductors and high-end equipment and become a core player in the global industrial chain.
If you are seeking CVD-SiC-related product solutions or wish to learn more about application details in different industries, please reach out through our official website. We are committed to providing professional technology and services to help global partners achieve breakthroughs and sustainable growth in the CVD-SiC field.
