CSR Zhuzhou Institute, In Pursuit of Proprietary Technologies

By+ZHU+HUIYUE+&+WANG+NAN

JUNE 20 witnessed a technical breakthrough by CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co.， Ltd. （CSR Zhuzhou Institute）. The company began operating an assembly line producing eight-inch IGBT （insulated gate bipolar transistor）， a power electronic device for the realization of electrical energy conversion and control. The assembly line is the first of the kind in China and the second in the world. It is expected to produce 120，000 eight-inch IGBT chips and one million IGBT modules every year. This means that China will be self-reliant in IGBT technology， which is strategically significant for Chinas economic security. CSR Zhuzhou Institute is now a pioneer of IGBT technologies and one of the few in the world with mass production capacity.

A Pivotal Chip

IGBT is regarded as the Holy Grail of power semiconductor research， featuring the most complicated technology in modern current converting industry.Ascending to the summit of this field marks another hard-won success of Chinese enterprises in their pursuit of core technologies in the high-end equipment field.

Researchers showed reporters a silicon wafer the size of a disk， on which 128 fingernail-sized chips are arranged. These were the world-leading eight-inch IGBT chips.

According to Liu Guoyou， director of the companys IGBT division， each chip， as fine as two human hairs， contains more than 50，000 cellular circuits that can sensitively regulate voltage as high as 6，500 V and a current as high as 1，200 A. These tiny chips can effectively convert and control electrical energy， providing electrical equipment with electrical energy of different power levels.

“IGBT design is exceptionally complicated since all circuits have to be designed on the scale of a few microns，”Liu said.

The IGBT chip is able to switch electric currents on and off one million times per second and swiftly convert electrical energy. Its applications can be found almost everywhere， from key equipment in strategic industries to domestic appliances. Any country that masters IGBT technology will be a powerful player in the world market of power semiconductor devices.

China has become the worlds largest consumer of IGBT， with high demand coming from the railway， new energy and electrical industries totaling more than RMB 10 billion per year. The demand is growing at an annual rate of 15 percent or more， and is expected to increase as Chinas strategic industries grow and modernize.endprint

According to Ding Rongjun， general manager of the CSR Zhuzhou Institute and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering， if IGBT technology is applied to 20 percent of Chinas electrical machines， their energy efficiency will increase by 15-30 percent. This would save 200 billion KWH electricity per year， double the output of the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Project.

But the reality is， due to weak foundations in scientific research， Chinas IGBT technological development has long lagged behind the rest of the world. The rail transit sector， for example， has had to import almost all of its IGBT modules. There were no Chinese companies among the manufacturers of highclass IGBT products until CSR Zhuzhou Institute launched its new assembly line. Despite being the leader in traction and electric drive technologies， in the past the CSR Zhuzhou Institute also had to spend hundreds of millions of Renminbi on importing IGBT products.

Designing and producing Chinese IGBT products has been the long-standing wish of the Zhuzhou institute and all domestic enterprises.

50 Years of Technical Strength

The CSR Zhuzhou Institute has led Chinas rail transit industry in the field of electric traction drives. Its products have been applied to high-speed trains， highpower AC drive electric locomotives， diesel locomotives， and urban rail vehicles. The company has a market share of 70 percent among domestic brands.

Power semiconductors are key to the electric drive system， and CSR Zhuzhou Institute is an industry leader in China.

In 1964， the company applied power semiconductor technology to Chinesemade electric locomotives for the first time. The year also saw the successful trial production of the rectifier diode， a small semiconductor that converts alternating current （AC） to direct current （DC）， marking the beginning of the companys technical research on power semiconductors and industrialization of related technologies.

In the mid-1980s the company began to make forays into thyristor technologies， and has broken the foreign monopoly after two decades of effort. It has developed several thyristor models of different sizes and power levels.

In 2000， the CSR Zhuzhou Institute established Chinas first four-inch free floating devices production line by using proprietary technology， for fourinch wholly-pressure-welded devices. In 2006， it developed the worlds first sixinch thyristor， which boosts the countrys ability to produce UHVDC transmission systems. In 2009， the company opened a plant for five-to-six-inch high power free floating devices， with an investment of RMB 350 million.endprint

Decades of assiduous efforts have raised the companys research on power semiconductors to a new level， combining independent development and technical introduction. All these lay a solid technical foundation for its advances on IGBT technologies.

Immense Synergistic Effect

Since the 11th Five-year Plan period （2006-2010） China has attached increasing importance to key strategic technologies. With support from government bodies including the National Development and Reform Commission， Ministry of Science and Technology， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the former Ministry of Railways， CSR Zhuzhou Institute launched research on high-voltage IGBT devices.

However， its no easy task to master the whole range of IGBT technologies in a short period. CSR Zhuzhou Institute adopted the acquisition-integration-innovation approach， and took advantage of global research resources to make technical breakthroughs.

In 2008， amid the global financial crisis， Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co.， Ltd.， a subsidiary of CSR Zhuzhou Institute， purchased the world renowned semiconductor producer Dynex Semiconductor， which immediately triggered ripples in the global industry.

Dynex Semiconductor is one of a few global manufacturers able to in-dependently design and develop fourinch IGBT wafers. However， due to lack of application platforms and followup capital， Dynexs IGBT technologies have failed to yield profits. CSR Zhuzhou Institute happens to have what Dynex lacks. Therefore， the two companies complement one others advantages to mutual benefit.

After the acquisition， CSR Zhuzhou Institute introduced a succession of initiatives. In 2010， it invested more than RMB 100 million to upgrade Dynexs production lines； then in 2011， it invested another RMB 100 million to set up a research and development center in the U.K. With access to high-caliber talent and advanced technology in Western Europe， the research center has become an important platform for CSR Zhuzhou Institute to develop new IGBT technologies and products.

Meanwhile， the CSR institute quickens its pace in the industrialization of IGBT technologies. In 2009， it established Chinas first IGBT module assembly and test line. Another major move followed in 2011， when it started to build Chinas first eight-inch IGBT wa- fer fabrication line with an investment of RMB 1.5 billion.endprint

The slew of measures has comprehensively upgraded the companys technical level， narrowing the gap with the worlds leading companies.

After six years， the company has acquired over 30 core IGBT technologies and established a complete development and production system with the capacity for massive production. It is now the sole Chinese enterprise with the capacity for IGBT chip development， module assembly and test and systematic application.

Expanding Industry Scale

“The technical breakthrough in the field of eight-inch IGBT products has put CSR Zhuzhou Institute into the first rank of IGBT producers worldwide，” Liu Guoyou said.

According to Liu， in addition to the eight-inch IGBT wafer fabrication line， the company is building a higher standard IGBT module production line in a bid to meet the demands of multiple domestic industries including rail transit， electric vehicles， smart grids， renewable energy high voltage converters， motor drives and etc. It is now devoted to building an independent industrial base with the largest production capacity and best technical strength in China.

Meanwhile， to cement its technical advantages， CSR Zhuzhou Institute is taking the lead in establishing an industry alliance to promote technical innovation， aiming to integrate resources of the domestic IGBT industry from raw materials to product applications， and thus advance the development of Chinas IGBT industry.

For CSR Zhuzhou Institute， innovation is a perpetual pursuit. In 2011， together with the Institute of Microelectronics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences， it founded a joint R&D center for new electronic devices made of silicon carbide. Today， the center has produced sample products， and assembled and encapsulated them into the hybrid IGBT module. The company is planning more cooperation with other research institutes in carrying out research on new technologies using silicon carbide materials and products.endprint