Why did TSMC outsource the manufacturing process to an LED factory for the first time? It turns out that the reason behind this is the "gallium nitride fast charging" craze that will be launched next year.

　　
The iPhone 12, which is currently on sale, will be discovered by Apple fans when they open the box. Not only are there no headphones, but the USB charger nicknamed "Tofu Head" has also disappeared.
　　
Apple claimed that it was because of environmental factors, and rival Samsung once mocked this statement on its official Facebook page. But not long ago, a leaked Samsung information revealed that Samsung will also follow suit. The latest Galaxy mobile phone expected to be launched in January next year will not come with a charger.
　　
In other words, next year alone, at least hundreds of millions of free chargers may disappear from the global market. The butterfly effect thus set off is that chargers made of expensive and rare semiconductor materials will accelerate in popularity.
　　
"Apple took the lead, and Samsung followed. They didn't give it away, so everyone had to go to the store to buy it. They would buy more expensive (chargers) that can charge quickly, and they are smaller and fit nicely in bags," said an analyst at an American brokerage.
　　

Gallium nitride chargers with low loss and small size will accelerate their popularity

If Apple fans walk into a mobile phone accessory store, they will find that the visibility of the "gallium nitride fast charging" charger, which claims to be able to charge in less than half the time of Apple's original charger, is gradually increasing. For example, American AUKEY, Chinese Xiaomi and other brand products.
　　
According to Zhang Mingjie, chief economist of Fulake Capital, a total of 30 manufacturers, including ANKER, a major charger brand, have launched more than 66 gallium nitride chargers.
　　
"Next year, the number of fast chargers may reach tens of millions per month. The volume is huge, so a lot of people around the world are jumping into it," explained a senior executive in the semiconductor industry.
　　
Most of them are equipped with gallium nitride power chips produced by the American start-up company Navitas, which is manufactured by TSMC.
　　
"GaN" belongs to the third-generation semiconductor material that is currently arousing heated discussions. It is characterized by high energy conversion efficiency, low loss, and small size.
　　
In fact, at this year's TSMC shareholder meeting, when legal representatives asked about the hot market "Gallium Nitride" wafer foundry process, TSMC President Wei Zhejia admitted that TSMC is "currently in small-scale production," but he expects GaN to be widely used in the future.

A senior semiconductor industry executive pointed out that TSMC currently manufactures gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-si) chips in 6-inch wafer fabs.
　　
However, Apple and Samsung did not provide chargers, which triggered a craze for gallium nitride chargers. It unexpectedly caused TSMC, which is fully equipped with production capacity, to outsource the manufacturing process to LED manufacturer Epistar.
　　
A report by Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that Epistar has the opportunity to place outsourced orders for gallium nitride epitaxial silicon wafers (Epitaxial Wafer) from TSMC, and is expected to ship them in the second quarter of 2021.
　　
Because Apple is about to launch its own "gallium nitride fast charge" in 2021, NanoVis will also supply power chips, but TSMC's epitaxial production capacity is limited. He predicted that TSMC will outsource Nanovi's gallium nitride epi chip orders to Epistar.

　　
TSMC outsources its manufacturing processes to Epistar, which has already been traced
　　

Some media further revealed that TSMC had even purchased the equipment and put it into Jingdian’s Zhunan factory, allowing Jingdian to manufacture it through patent licensing.
　　
This news may seem unbelievable at first. TSMC has outsourced its manufacturing process for the first time, and the contract is actually an LED factory?
　　
A former TSMC process supervisor explained that the so-called "epitaxial silicon wafer outsourcing" means that TSMC first asks Epistar to plate a layer of gallium nitride on the silicon wafer, "and then takes it back to TSMC to produce power management ICs used in mobile phone fast chargers."
　　
Epistar is Taiwan's leading LED manufacturer, and gallium nitride epitaxy is originally one of the key manufacturing processes of LEDs, so it is naturally capable of accepting orders.
　　
"This has officially signed an NDA. We will not comment." Epistar Chairman Li Bingjie did not want to answer "World"'s inquiry about TSMC's outsourcing. He only said that Epistar does have similar technology.
　　
He said that the material properties of gallium nitride, that is, power density, stability, thermal conductivity and energy conversion are better than traditional silicon-based components, making it an ideal microwave frequency power amplifier. In the past, the most common application was in large equipment, such as 5G base station equipment. In the future, it will be introduced into a large number of chargers for 3C electronic products.
　　
Li Bingjie believes that chargers around the world will gradually form a standard specification: 100-watt, three-port, TypeC (can support laptops, mobile phones, and tablets at the same time) will become a global standard.
　　
As a result, the size of traditional chargers will be greatly reduced. "If third-generation semiconductor materials are used, the charger can be changed to a smaller size, which is only about one-third of the volume." Li Bingjie compared the size of about 2 cubic inches with his hand.
　　
But what is curious is when did TSMC start investing in gallium nitride process technology?
　　
Back around 2009, TSMC was actively venturing into new green energy businesses that were not its main industry, including Motech’s thin-film solar cells and LED solid-state lighting. Tan Changlin, the general manager of TSMC’s solid-state lighting at that time, came from Epistar. But the last two businesses failed. In 2015, TSMC solid-state lighting was sold to Epistar.
　　
A person in the semiconductor industry who witnessed the establishment of TSMC Solid State Lighting that year revealed that TSMC Solid State Lighting originally had 380 employees, more than 200 of whom went to Epistar.

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