眾所周知，作為“工業(yè)維生素”，稀土是一種重要的戰(zhàn)略金屬資源，沒(méi)了它，很多高科技產(chǎn)品都玩不轉(zhuǎn)。而有一種戰(zhàn)略金屬資源，同樣在高科技領(lǐng)域中應(yīng)用廣泛，也是芯片制造的關(guān)鍵材料。這種資源與稀土一樣，都是我國(guó)的優(yōu)勢(shì)礦種，儲(chǔ)量和產(chǎn)量全球第一。那么，到底是哪種戰(zhàn)略金屬資源？這就是接下來(lái)為各位介紹的金屬鎵。
鎵是一種銀白色的稀有金屬，它的熔點(diǎn)很低，是自然界中少有的在常溫下呈液體的金屬。由于它在地殼中含量稀少，分布又比較分散，所以沒(méi)有獨(dú)立的礦床，主要與鋁、鋅、鍺等礦物伴生，比較難提取。要知道，2020年全球粗鎵產(chǎn)量也不過(guò)是300噸，其中，中國(guó)的產(chǎn)量就高達(dá)290噸，占全球產(chǎn)量的96%以上，其它的粗鎵產(chǎn)國(guó)連中國(guó)的零頭都不到。
不止是產(chǎn)量，中國(guó)的金屬鎵儲(chǔ)量同樣是全球第一。根據(jù)美國(guó)地質(zhì)調(diào)查局（USGS）公布的數(shù)據(jù)，目前全球金屬鎵的儲(chǔ)量約為27.93萬(wàn)噸，而中國(guó)的儲(chǔ)量最多，達(dá)到19萬(wàn)噸，占全球儲(chǔ)量的68%左右；相比之下，美國(guó)的儲(chǔ)量還不到中國(guó)的1/40，只有0.45萬(wàn)噸?？梢?jiàn)，與稀土一樣，金屬鎵也是我國(guó)手中的一張王牌。
那么，這種金屬資源到底有什么用？首先，它是芯片制造的關(guān)鍵材料。提到半導(dǎo)體材料，各位可能會(huì)想到碳化硅，但或許不知道氮化鎵，它們都是第三代半導(dǎo)體的關(guān)鍵材料。相比硅材料，氮化鎵的禁帶寬度、電子飽和遷移速度和擊穿場(chǎng)強(qiáng)都更勝一籌，這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)使其在射頻器件和電力電子器件的制造上更有優(yōu)勢(shì)。
比如近年來(lái)大家廣泛關(guān)注的5G技術(shù)，它所使用的高頻無(wú)線電波脈沖芯片組，就是用氮化鎵來(lái)制造的，并且這種材料耗電少、發(fā)熱少，還能夠在800攝氏度的高溫下工作，相比碳化硅，成本也相對(duì)低一點(diǎn)。
其實(shí)，除了在半導(dǎo)體領(lǐng)域得到“重用”之外，金屬鎵以及它的一系列化合物已經(jīng)廣泛應(yīng)用于新能源汽車、LED照明、太陽(yáng)能電池以及雷達(dá)等眾多領(lǐng)域，它的很多用途與當(dāng)前的綠色能源和低碳經(jīng)濟(jì)息息相關(guān)。
這些年來(lái)，節(jié)能減排日益受到全球各國(guó)的關(guān)注，《巴黎協(xié)定》還致力于推動(dòng)各國(guó)制定并落實(shí)減排任務(wù)?？梢灶A(yù)想，未來(lái)全球?qū)︽壍南M(fèi)需求會(huì)越來(lái)越大，這種資源在日后也會(huì)更“大有可為”。
正因?yàn)橐庾R(shí)到它的重要性，而且自身儲(chǔ)量不多，歐美、日本等國(guó)家早就對(duì)鎵資源進(jìn)行管控和儲(chǔ)備，比如歐盟在2010年發(fā)布的14種礦產(chǎn)原料緊缺名單中，鎵就位列其中；美國(guó)在2018年也將鎵列入35種關(guān)鍵礦產(chǎn)清單中。
然而，日本是全球鎵第一大消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)，美國(guó)則緊隨其后，歐盟也是重要的鎵消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)，它們自己的鎵資源沒(méi)怎么開(kāi)發(fā)，那么就需要依賴進(jìn)口了，這其中很大一部分鎵就進(jìn)口自中國(guó)。
其實(shí)剛也提到，中國(guó)的粗鎵產(chǎn)量已占到了全球的96%以上，有分析指出，可能也是由于中國(guó)的產(chǎn)量大，甚至出現(xiàn)產(chǎn)能過(guò)剩，抑制了其它國(guó)家的生產(chǎn)。過(guò)去幾年，哈薩克斯坦、匈牙利、德國(guó)和烏克蘭等國(guó)已先后停止了初級(jí)鎵的生產(chǎn)，所以我們才會(huì)看到，全球粗鎵產(chǎn)能幾乎被中國(guó)壟斷。
當(dāng)然，歐美日等發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家用到的鎵資源并非100%從中國(guó)進(jìn)口。隨著鎵回收利用技術(shù)的不斷發(fā)展，如今，全球再生鎵的產(chǎn)量已經(jīng)不低了，2020年的產(chǎn)量便達(dá)到250噸，并且還呈現(xiàn)逐步上升的趨勢(shì)，未來(lái)甚至不排除會(huì)超過(guò)粗鎵的產(chǎn)量。
所以，歐美等發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家也有一部分的鎵供應(yīng)來(lái)自這些再生鎵，尤其是回收產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展最好的日本，已經(jīng)有一半的鎵供應(yīng)來(lái)自本國(guó)的回收產(chǎn)業(yè)，逐漸擺脫對(duì)中國(guó)的依賴。
這些年來(lái)，我國(guó)新能源汽車、光伏、LED照明等產(chǎn)業(yè)迅速發(fā)展，也帶動(dòng)了鎵以及它的化合物等消費(fèi)量迅速增長(zhǎng)，但不完美的地方在于，我國(guó)半導(dǎo)體等產(chǎn)業(yè)的發(fā)展還落后于美日韓等發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，因此，我國(guó)的高端精鎵產(chǎn)品（高端電子元件）也仍高度依賴進(jìn)口，這從芯片成為我國(guó)第一大進(jìn)口商品便可以窺探一二。
值得注意的是，近年來(lái)，為了解決芯片“卡脖子”等難題，我國(guó)已經(jīng)開(kāi)始大力發(fā)展芯片產(chǎn)業(yè)，并提出到2025年將芯片自給率提升到70%的目標(biāo)。可以見(jiàn)得，接下來(lái)國(guó)產(chǎn)芯將加速崛起，未來(lái)我國(guó)的高精鎵產(chǎn)品對(duì)外依賴也會(huì)逐漸降低。
另外，作為我國(guó)的一種優(yōu)勢(shì)礦種，與歐美國(guó)家一樣，我國(guó)也早就對(duì)鎵資源進(jìn)行了相關(guān)的管控。比如2011年，我國(guó)便將鎵列入戰(zhàn)略儲(chǔ)備金屬，計(jì)劃在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)候?qū)λM(jìn)行收儲(chǔ)。隨著鎵資源重要性日益提升，相信我國(guó)還會(huì)對(duì)這種戰(zhàn)略資源進(jìn)行相關(guān)的保護(hù)。
As we all know, as an "industrial vitamin", rare earth is an important strategic metal resource. Without it, many high-tech products can't play. There is a strategic metal resource, which is also widely used in the high-tech field and is also the key material for chip manufacturing. Like rare earth, this resource is the dominant mineral in China, with the largest reserves and output in the world. So, what kind of strategic metal resources? This is the metal gallium introduced to you next.
Metal gallium, the key material for chip manufacturing! China has the largest reserves in the world, and Europe and the United States also need to import a large amount
Gallium is a silver white rare metal with a low melting point. It is a rare metal in nature that is liquid at room temperature. Because its content in the earth's crust is rare and its distribution is relatively scattered, there is no independent deposit. It is mainly associated with minerals such as aluminum, zinc and germanium, which is difficult to extract. You know, the global output of crude gallium in 2020 is only 300 tons, of which China's output is as high as 290 tons, accounting for more than 96% of the global output, and other crude gallium producing countries are less than a fraction of China.
Not only the output, China's metal gallium reserves are also the first in the world. According to the data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the global reserves of metal gallium are about 279300 tons, while China has the largest reserves, reaching 190000 tons, accounting for about 68% of the global reserves; In contrast, the reserves of the United States are less than 1 / 40 of that of China, only 4500 tons. It can be seen that, like rare earth, metal gallium is also a trump card in China's hands.
So, what is the use of this metal resource? First, it is the key material for chip manufacturing. When it comes to semiconductor materials, you may think of silicon carbide, but you may not know gallium nitride. They are the key materials of the third generation of semiconductors. Compared with silicon materials, gallium nitride has better band gap width, electron saturation migration velocity and breakdown field strength. These advantages make it more advantageous in the manufacture of RF devices and power electronic devices.
Metal gallium, the key material for chip manufacturing! China has the largest reserves in the world, and Europe and the United States also need to import a large amount
For example, 5g technology, which has attracted much attention in recent years, uses high-frequency radio wave pulse chipsets made of gallium nitride. This material consumes less power and generates less heat. It can also work at a high temperature of 800 degrees Celsius. Compared with silicon carbide, the cost is also relatively low.
In fact, in addition to being "reused" in the semiconductor field, metal gallium and a series of its compounds have been widely used in many fields such as new energy vehicles, LED lighting, solar cells and radar. Many of its uses are related to the current green energy and low-carbon economy.
In recent years, energy conservation and emission reduction have attracted increasing attention from countries around the world. The Paris Agreement is also committed to promoting countries to formulate and implement emission reduction tasks. It can be expected that the global consumption demand for gallium will be greater and greater in the future, and this resource will be more "promising" in the future.
Metal gallium, the key material for chip manufacturing! China has the largest reserves in the world, and Europe and the United States also need to import a large amount
Aware of its importance and its small reserves, countries such as Europe, America and Japan have long controlled and reserved gallium resources. For example, gallium is one of the 14 mineral raw material shortage lists released by the European Union in 2010; The United States also included gallium in the list of 35 key minerals in 2018.
However, Japan is the largest gallium consumption market in the world, followed by the United States, and the European Union is also an important gallium consumption market. If their own gallium resources are not developed, they need to rely on imports, and a large part of gallium is imported from China.
Metal gallium, the key material for chip manufacturing! China has the largest reserves in the world, and Europe and the United States also need to import a large amount
In fact, it was just mentioned that China's crude gallium production has accounted for more than 96% of the world. Some analysts pointed out that it may also be due to China's large production and even overcapacity, which has restrained the production of other countries. In the past few years, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Germany, Ukraine and other countries have successively stopped the production of primary gallium, so we can see that the global crude gallium production capacity is almost monopolized by China.
Of course, not 100% of gallium resources used by developed countries such as Europe, America and Japan are imported from China. With the continuous development of gallium recycling technology, the global output of regenerated gallium is not low now. The output will reach 250 tons in 2020, and it also shows a gradual upward trend. In the future, it will even exceed the output of crude gallium.
Therefore, some of the gallium supply in developed countries such as Europe and the United States comes from these regenerated gallium, especially Japan, which has the best development of recycling industry. Half of the gallium supply comes from its own recycling industry, gradually getting rid of its dependence on China.
In recent years, China's new energy automobile, photovoltaic, LED lighting and other industries have developed rapidly, which has also driven the rapid growth of gallium and its compounds. However, the imperfection is that the development of China's semiconductor and other industries still lags behind developed countries such as the United States, Japan and South Korea. Therefore, China's high-end refined gallium products (high-end electronic components) are still highly dependent on imports, This can be seen from the fact that the chip has become the largest imported commodity in China.
Metal gallium, the key material for chip manufacturing! China has the largest reserves in the world, and Europe and the United States also need to import a large amount
It is worth noting that in recent years, in order to solve the problems such as chip "neck", China has begun to vigorously develop the chip industry and put forward the goal of raising the chip self-sufficiency rate to 70% by 2025. It can be seen that the rise of domestic cores will accelerate next, and China's foreign dependence on high-precision gallium products will gradually decrease in the future.
In addition, as an advantageous mineral in China, like European and American countries, China has long controlled gallium resources. For example, in 2011, China listed gallium as a strategic reserve metal and planned to collect and store it at an appropriate time. With the increasing importance of gallium resources, it is believed that China will protect such strategic resources.
行業(yè)動(dòng)態(tài)