Slide 1: Thank you for attending ULVAC Inc.'s IR seminar
Thank you for attending ULVAC Inc.’s IR seminar. I am Umeda, Officer and GM of IR Department. 1
Slide 2: Seminar agenda and presenters
As stated in the agenda, Iso, General Manager of FPD Division, Yamamoto, Senior Manager of R2R Group, and Takei, Senior Manager, Applied Vacuum Technology Research Department, Institute of Advanced Technology, will describe the market trend and business development of evaporation Roll-to- Roll equip
Slide 3: New medium-term management plan and market environment
ULVAC announced its new medium-term management plan this August. The plan is to target net sales of JPY300 billion and operating income of JPY48 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026. The demand for servers, sensors, and various electronic devices is expected to increase in the mid- to lo
Slide 4: Battery and power device orders drive growth
In this environment, battery-related and power devices will drive future growth, along with the fields of logic devices, memory, and various electronic devices, which we were able to enter for the first time in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. In the battery-related business, investment has been
Slide 5: Vacuum thin-film technology for smart and digital society
ULVAC contributes to the realization of a smart and digital society with its vacuum thin-film technology for various substrates, such as wafers, glass, and plastic films, and also contributes to green energy and low power consumption through miniaturization, high performance, and low power consumpti
Slide 6: Part 1: Double-sided evaporation Roll-to-Roll equipment for EV batteries
My name is Iso, General Manager of FPD Division at ULVAC. Today, Yamamoto, Takei, and I will describe the market trend and business development of double-sided evaporation Roll-to-Roll equipmentfor EV batteries. 6
Slide 7: Summary of today's seminar
This is a summary of today's seminar. First, to answer the question of why evaporation film is necessary, we will explain how evaporation film can contribute to solving the technological challenges surrounding batteries, such as improving safety, reducing size and weight, lowering costs, and reducin
Slide 8: Carbon neutrality and shift from gasoline vehicles
The background of this session is that each country has set carbon neutrality targets as a countermeasure to global warming, and the trend away from gasoline-powered vehicles has become undeniable. 8
Slide 9: EV market CAGR and battery demand growth
Against this backdrop, the EV market is projected to show a CAGR 25% between 2022 and 2030, and demand for EV batteries is expected to increase eightfold. 9
Slide 10: Roadmap for higher battery performance
This is the roadmap for higher battery performance. Vacuum technology previously has not been used in lithium-ion batteries, which are currently the mainstream. In recent years, battery materials have begun to be reexamined in order to improve the performance of current batteries and to develop next
Slide 11: Four technical challenges of EV batteries
Here is why vacuum deposition is attracting attention in the battery market. EV batteries are expanding rapidly in line with the growing EV market, but they are facing 4 major technical challenges. One is to improve safety. In the past, EV batteries caught fire that led to massive recalls, making th
Slide 12: Battery strategy for vacuum deposition
We will explain our battery strategy for the adoption of vacuum deposition technology for these battery components. We have already completed the development of the deposition technology and equipment for the battery’s Cathode current collector, known as CCC, by applying our existing Roll-to-Roll ev
Slide 13: Double-sided evaporation film CCC
I am Yamamoto of the R2R Group, and I will explain why we are focusing on double-sided evaporation film CCC. 13
Slide 14: Reason 1: Improved battery safety
The first reason why double-sided evaporation CCCs are attracting attention is that they improve the safety of Lithium batteries. Double-sided evaporation film current collectors act as a fuse and prevent the occurrence of short circuits inside the battery. At present, metal foil current collectors
Slide 15: Reason 2: Smaller size and lower weight
The second reason why double-sided evaporation film CCCs are attracting attention is they help reduce the size and weight of lithium batteries. Here are examples of an ACC and CCC in terms of weight and energy density of batteries per megawatt-hour. The copper and aluminum foil current collectors us
Slide 16: Reason 3: Lower component costs
The third reason for double-sided evaporation film CCCs is that they can reduce component costs. Currently, rolled aluminum foil made by the rolling method and electrolytic copper foil made by the plating method are mainly used as metal foil current collectors. Metal foil with a thickness of 4.5 mic
Slide 17: Reason 4: Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
The fourth reason why double-sided evaporation film CCCs are attracting attention is their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to solving environmental issues. Batteries account for more than half of the CO2 emissions during EV manufacturing. Breaking it down further, one-third
Slide 18: ULVAC's differentiating Roll-to-Roll technology
For these reasons, ULVAC is leveraging its accumulated Roll-to-Roll technology to offer products that incorporate new technology that differentiates itself for the double-sided evaporation film CCC market. ULVAC's background technologies include high-speed film forming technology, which is 10 times
Slide 19: Double-sided evaporation film market forecast
So far, I have explained the expectations for double-sided evaporation films and our differentiating technology. We believe that the double-sided evaporation CCC and ACC markets and their equipment markets will grow more rapidly than the EV market growth rate. We also calculated that the demand for
Slide 20: Double-sided evaporation film ACC rationale
My name is Takei from the Institute of Advanced Technology. First, let me explain why double-sided evaporation film ACCs are attracting attention. In addition to the four reasons shown on the left about the CCCs, a reduction in Cu raw materials can be expected. Copper is one of the valuable resource
Slide 21: Copper evaporation ACC development plan
Current double-sided thin-film ACCs are manufactured and prototyped by sputtering a seed layer on both sides of a resin film, followed by copper plating. However, this manufacturing method has the problem of increasing costs. Therefore, we are applying the double-sided aluminum evaporation technolog
Slide 22: Lithium metal anode for next-generation batteries
Next, I will discuss the lithium metal Anode, which is attracting attention as a next-generation anode. The application of lithium metal Anodes can contribute to further downsizing and weight reduction of batteries. Graphite anode is used for the Anode of existing liquid LiBs described earlier, as w
Slide 23: Progress in lithium metal anode production technology
In last year's seminar, we touched on lithium metal Anode manufacturing and production technology issues, and this year's seminar will discuss major progress. One of the technical challenges in the production of lithium metal Anodes is the transportation of copper and metal foils in a vacuum. If pol
Slide 24: Batteries with lithium metal anodes
I would like to introduce a few examples of batteries with lithium metal anodes. This graph shows energy density on the vertical axis, and the number of possible charge/discharge cycles corresponding to the life of the battery on the horizontal axis. Batteries using our lithium deposition film as th
Slide 25: Part 2: Next-generation power devices
My name is Iwai, and I am the General Manager of Advanced Electronics Equipment Division. Today, I would like to describe the market trend for next-generation power devices and our efforts in this area. 25
Slide 26: Outline of presentation
This will be the outline of today's presentation. First of all, I will start with a brief description of power device operation and applications. 26
Slide 27: Power device characteristics
The characteristics of power devices is that it can switch electrical signals on and off, whereas the mechanical switch on the left physically moves contacts to switch the current. Since there is no actuators, power devices are compact and can carry large currents at high speed and are used in all f
Slide 28: Power device use in EVs
This section explains how power devices are used, using EVs as an example. When charging a battery from an AC household power source to a DC battery, the AC must be converted to DC. Therefore, an AC-DC conversion circuit, called a converter, is used. When running, the direct current electricity from
Slide 29: EV market growth and SiC substrate demand
The EV market is expected to expand significantly due to a combination of environmental measures and regulations in various countries. While the number of vehicles in 2023 is around 13 million units, it is expected to continue to increase to over 20 million units in 2025 and to nearly 60 million uni
Slide 30: Silicon, SiC and GaN in applications
Both Silicon and SiC are currently used in EV applications, but SiC is used in higher-priced products due to its smaller size and lower power loss. GaN is used in some electrical products due to its ability to be miniaturized. It is also capable of high-frequency operation and is used widely for com
Slide 31: Power device market size and trends
Next, I will discuss the size and trends of the power device market. 31
Slide 32: Power device market by type
Si-MOSFETs and IGBTs have a wide range of applications and a large market size, but their growth rate is not so large. On the other hand, the appetite for investment in SiC has recently been expanding, partly due to the growing demand for EVs. Since there will likely be 8-inch SiC products in or aro
Slide 33: Power device market by region
By region, China has the largest market size and growth, driven by its policy of domestic production and the shift to EVs. The graph on the right shows the growth rate of each region by material. Both SiC and GaN are expected to grow significantly in China. ULVAC has secured a large share of the gro
Slide 34: Substrate size and planar vs trench structures
In China, where the market size is large, the most common substrate size is 6-inch, and the device structure is planar. In Japan, the current investment is for 6-inch products, but there will be a transition to an 8-inch trench structure. In a few years, China is expected to shift to 8-inch trench s
Slide 35: SiC power device manufacturing process
Next, I will provide an overview of the manufacturing process for SiC power devices, which are currently experiencing rapid growth, as well as the challenges faced in the manufacturing process and ULVAC's strengths. 35
Slide 36: SiC manufacturing process and ULVAC equipment
This is an overview of the SiC power device manufacturing process. This is an example of the trench structure described earlier. Wet processes such as cleaning, and photolithography processes such as exposure are omitted, but vacuum equipment is used in many processes in the manufacture of SiC power
Slide 37: Manufacturing challenges for SiC
In the case of SiC, multiple ion implantations are required due to the hardness of the substrate, and the ion implantation temperature must be varied depending on the process. Thus, the challenge is to increase productivity. Since SiC substrates are expensive and warp significantly, it is important
Slide 38: Equipment lineup for SiC and strengths
Now, I will present the equipment lineup for SiC and its strengths. 38
Slide 39: SiC challenges and ULVAC products
This diagram shows, from left to right, SiC final products, challenges, key technologies that solve the challenges, manufacturing challenges as described on the previous page, and ULVAC products that solve these challenges. I will describe each device in detail. 39
Slide 40: Ion implanter requirements for SiC
First, ion implanter. For electric vehicles, it is necessary to solve issues such as downsizing, higher output, lower power loss, and lower cost. For SiC power devises, in addition to low-temperature implantation, ion implanters must be able to handle high-temperature implantation, semiconductor-lev
Slide 41: ULVAC ion implanter strengths
In the case of SiC, multiple ion implants are required at high and low temperatures. Other companies' equipment requires two or more units, because setting changes are necessary when switching between high and low temperatures, resulting in downtime. ULVAC's ion implanter can easily switch between l
Slide 42: Sputtering equipment
Next, I will describe the sputtering equipment. 42
Slide 43: Sputtering equipment features
The main features of ULVAC's sputtering equipment are high transport reliability for warped and thin substrates, and the ability to control substrate warpage through stress control. Silicon is almost flat, but SiC substrates warp significantly, making stable transport difficult. Compared to other co
Slide 44: Etching system
Finally, the etching system. 44
Slide 45: Etching technology for trench structures
Earlier, I explained that the trench structure lowers channel resistance, power loss, and that the manufacturing process is complex and requires advanced process technology and know-how in order to achieve miniaturization. The key to achieving trench structures is to improve device characteristics b
Slide 46: Summary of ULVAC equipment strengths
We have organized the strengths of ULVAC equipment introduced so far. In addition to ion implanters and sputtering and etching systems, we also provide evaporation systems for mid to low-end power devices locally produced in China. 46
Slide 47: ULVAC's approach to GaN
Next, I will explain ULVAC's approach to GaN, which is being actively researched and developed as a next-generation power device. 47
Slide 48: GaN issues and ULVAC equipment
The following is a summary of GaN issues and ULVAC's equipment and technology. Details are provided on the following pages. 48
Slide 49: GaN etching system
First, the etching system. 49
Slide 50: Horizontal and vertical GaN devices
The table on the left describes the horizontal type currently in mass production and on the right describes the vertical type being researched and developed as a next-generation device. Since the vertical type will be able to carry large currents, its applications are expected to grow for high outpu
Slide 51: Sputtering equipment for GaN
Finally, the sputtering equipment for GaN. 51
Slide 52: GaN sputtering system
This is a sputtering system capable of GaN deposition. Conventionally, films have been deposited by the MOCVD process. By switching to sputtering, it is possible to deposit films with a minimum number of raw materials. MOCVD is a chemical deposition process that utilizes gases and requires the treat
Slide 53: Vacuum technology for manufacturing
Vacuum technology/ for manufacturing ULVAC 53