Busan City Signs MOU for BTG Production Facility Construction and Technology Cooperation with Japan's Oxide Co.

MOU Signed at 1:30 PM on the 2nd at Busan City Hall Among City, 'Bitouji', and Japanese 'OXIDE'

Establishment of Power Semiconductor Production Facility and Creation of Local Jobs, 200 Billion KRW Investment by 2028

Collaboration with Japane

On the 2nd at 1:30 PM, Busan City announced that it will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for investment and technical cooperation between Bitouji (hereinafter ‘Bitouji’), a company located in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk, and Oxide Co., Ltd. of Japan (hereinafter ‘Oxide’) for the establishment of a power semiconductor production facility at Busan City Hall.

The investment agreement ceremony will be attended by Lee Seong-gwon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, Shin Jeong-hoon, CEO of Bitouji, and Furukawa, CEO of Oxide, who will sign the agreement in person.

Since 2010, Busan has been continuously investing to foster power semiconductors, a core component of electric vehicles, as a new growth industry in the region. After passing the government preliminary feasibility study for the ‘Power Semiconductor Commercialization Project’ in 2016, Busan has been promoting the ‘Power Semiconductor Industry Cluster Development Project’ in the Dongnam Radiation Medical & Science Industrial Complex (Jangan-eup, Gijang) since 2017.

Through this investment agreement, ▲ Bitouji will contribute to the creation of jobs in the region by establishing a new power semiconductor production facility within the ‘Dongnam Radiation Medical & Science Industrial Complex’ and will especially strive to prioritize hiring excellent talent from the Busan area. ▲ Busan City will actively support all necessary matters to ensure Bitouji’s successful settlement in Busan and the smooth progress of its investment projects.

Also, ▲ Oxide will actively support Bitouji with all the technologies it possesses for mass production of power semiconductors at the new facility and will prioritize hiring excellent researchers from the Busan region.

Bitouji plans to build a factory for mass production of gallium nitride (GaN) based power semiconductors by 2025 on approximately 15,000㎡ of land within the Dongnam Radiation Medical & Science Industrial Complex in Gijang-gun, Busan. By 2028, it plans to invest 200 billion KRW and hire about 50 new employees through Oxide’s technical support for mass production of GaN-based power semiconductors.

Semiconductor materials were initially germanium (Ge), which was replaced by silicon (Si) due to better thermal resistance and power efficiency. However, as technologies such as electric vehicles, smartphones, and artificial intelligence advanced, next-generation compound semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC), which is silicon doped with carbon, and gallium nitride (GaN), a compound of nitrogen (N) and gallium (Ga), have attracted attention to overcome limitations in power efficiency and signal processing speed.

Silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors are mainly used in applications requiring operation under high temperature and high voltage environments, such as electric vehicles, aerospace, and industrial electricity.

Gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors are used in applications requiring fast signal processing speed (switching), such as smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. Compared to silicon carbide (SiC), GaN offers higher power conversion efficiency, enabling miniaturization and weight reduction, and when applied to electric vehicle batteries, it can drastically reduce charging time.

Bitouji, established in 2009, is a GaN-based power semiconductor company aiming to develop GaN wafers and vertical GaN power devices. It actively collaborates with top Japanese companies possessing world-class GaN technology and participates actively in government research and development (R&D) projects, making it a strong small and medium enterprise in the domestic GaN material sector.

Oxide, established in 2000 and located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, is a strong small and medium enterprise in the materials sector, aiming for commercialization in semiconductor materials and medical fields through the development of single crystal and laser-related technologies.

Status of Japanese OXIDE Company.

Lee Seong-gwon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, said, “I am pleased that the number of power semiconductor companies deciding to invest in Busan is steadily increasing. I believe that the investment by Bitouji and Oxide will greatly contribute to attracting a semiconductor specialized complex, which the city is currently striving for.” He added, “We will spare no administrative support so that Bitouji, Oxide, and Busan can grow together.”