Hefei Tianyao, a developer of cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) semiconductor materials that enables iterative improvements in radiation detection accuracy, has completed a Series A financing round worth tens of millions of yuan | Exclusive from 36Kr

Text | Zhang Bingbing

Editor | A Zhi

36Kr learned that Hefei Tianyao New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hefei Tianyao") recently announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing, led by Houxue Capital, followed by SMIC Juyuan and Guoyuan Fund. The funds will be mainly used for production line expansion and product R & D, as well as to expand overseas markets and downstream detector integration business.

Founded in April 2020 and located in the Economic Development Zone of Hefei, "Hefei Tianyao" is a high - tech enterprise focusing on the R & D, production and sales of the third - generation strategic semiconductor crystal materials. Its core products are cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) substrates and devices, and it is currently expanding its high - end indium phosphide (InP) and aluminum nitride (AlN) compound semiconductor products. It is committed to breaking the technological monopoly of Europe, America and Japan and achieving domestic self - control of high - end semiconductor materials.

Using the self - developed "multi - temperature zone pulling method (LEC - VGF method)", "Hefei Tianyao" has achieved mass production of 4 - to 6 - inch full single crystal ingots, becoming one of the few enterprises in the world that master the 6 - inch cadmium zinc telluride directional single crystal growth technology. Currently, its products have been widely sent for samples to customers in fields such as medical imaging equipment.

I. With a general yield rate of only 10%, where lies the difficulty in preparing cadmium zinc telluride substrates?

Cadmium zinc telluride is an important compound semiconductor material. Due to its physical properties such as high resistivity, wide bandgap and strong radiation absorption ability, it has become an important "golden material" in fields such as infrared detection and radiation detection.

However, the preparation conditions for cadmium zinc telluride crystals are extremely harsh, usually requiring a high - temperature and high - pressure environment, complex chemical reaction processes and precisely controlled parameters. This has led to the fact that although scientists began systematic research on cadmium zinc telluride materials in the 1950s, there are still multiple technical obstacles to large - scale production of high - quality products.

"Cadmium zinc telluride is one of the most difficult materials to handle among all crystal materials." Pang Hao, the founder of "Hefei Tianyao", described the difficulty of its preparation in this way. In terms of physical properties, cadmium zinc telluride generates a relatively large amount of heat during solidification, and the barrier to form defects is relatively low. When growing cadmium zinc telluride crystals by the traditional melt method, the heat inside the melt is difficult to conduct, and the substances are not easily homogenized. Inevitably, various defects will occur, resulting in a decline in the electrical and optical properties of the crystals, which in turn affects key indicators such as the resolution, photoconductivity and detection sensitivity of the detector. Previously, only Japanese enterprises had achieved stable mass production of large - size cadmium zinc telluride.

Pang Hao believes that the biggest difficulty lies in understanding the material mechanism: "Why do low - performance problems occur at the mechanism level? How to uniformly control these microscopic defects of various deep and shallow energy levels? After understanding the mechanism, we can achieve R & D breakthroughs through our unique process."

The cadmium zinc telluride material is very fragile and greatly affected by process fluctuations. Since its establishment, "Hefei Tianyao" has continuously adjusted its production process. Finally, using the self - developed "multi - temperature zone pulling method (LEC - VGF method)", it has achieved mass production of 4 - to 6 - inch full single crystal ingots, becoming one of the few enterprises in the world that master the 6 - inch cadmium zinc telluride single crystal growth technology and filling the domestic gap.

4 - inch wafer products of "Hefei Tianyao"

In Pang Hao's view, stable mass production is the core barrier. "This cannot be achieved simply by investing money and time. On the basis of having excellent technology, some discoveries require inspiration, and the technical barrier is relatively high." In the field of cadmium zinc telluride, "stable mass production" means that the yield rate of products needs to reach a stable level. It is reported that if calculated according to the whole process, from feeding to output, the average yield rate in the industry is about 10%, while Japanese enterprises can basically achieve 50% - 60%. Currently, the yield rate of "Hefei Tianyao" has exceeded 50%.

"Whether it is in the medical field or radiation detection field, the most essential core point of all applications is cost. In the field of radiation detection, previously, cadmium zinc telluride detectors were 10 times more expensive than other scintillation detectors, so they could not be used at all. However, if we can really reduce the cost of this detector to 1/10 of the original and at the same time improve the detection accuracy by dozens of times, it will bring about the iteration of radiation detectors. The scale of the entire radiation detection market is in the tens of billions." Pang Hao summarized.

II. As a high - end photon CT detector material, achieving the iteration of radiation detection

In the field of radiation detection, traditional radiation detection mainly uses various scintillation crystals such as sodium iodide and BGO. The principle is that after being irradiated by radiation, the scintillation crystal converts X - rays into light, and then the read - out circuits such as silicon photodiodes and light - reading silicon - based convert the light into electrons. The conversion of signals inevitably brings information loss and limitations, which in turn affects the accuracy of detection.

The high - precision solution is to use high - purity germanium (HPGe) semiconductor sensors, with 13N - grade ultra - high - purity germanium single crystals as the core material. High purity ensures the sensitivity and energy resolution of the detector and reduces the interference of impurities on signal read - out, making it the "gold standard" for γ - ray energy spectrum analysis. However, high - purity germanium semiconductor sensors usually work at liquid nitrogen temperature (-196°C), so they are mainly used in cutting - edge scientific research fields such as nuclear power plants and dark matter detection.

With its γ - radiation detection ability, cadmium zinc telluride crystals have become an ideal material for building room - temperature X - ray and γ - ray detectors. Cadmium zinc telluride crystals can directly convert X - ray and γ - ray photons into electrons at room temperature, reaching an intensity of processing two million photons per second per millimeter. At the same time, the radiation dose is smaller, and on the basis of traditional imaging, elements can also be identified.

Currently, photon CT using cadmium zinc telluride and cadmium telluride as detector materials has officially entered clinical use. It is reported that from the beginning of 2025 to the end of July, Siemens Medical's photon - counting CT has won bids from nearly 10 medical institutions, with a total amount of 475 million yuan and a single - unit price of nearly 50 million yuan. The photon - counting energy - spectrum CT independently developed by United Imaging Healthcare has been installed in Zhongshan Hospital and Ruijin Hospital to start clinical testing and clinical medical research.

"Our entire radiation detection has finally iterated to the next generation." Pang Hao said that "Hefei Tianyao" needs to seize the opportunity of this wave and strive to become a core supplier. Currently, the cadmium zinc telluride products of "Hefei Tianyao" have achieved small - batch supply in the medical field and have been sent for samples to many leading medical manufacturers. It is expected to enter the mass - production stage next year.

In terms of revenue, "Hefei Tianyao" had revenue of tens of millions of yuan in 2024 and is expected to double its revenue this year. In order to support the supply demand of the signed orders, "Hefei Tianyao" completed the expansion project in Hefei in June. After the expansion, the output value of the production line will be nearly 100 million yuan. It is expected that the site will be further expanded to 10,000 square meters in the future, and the output value will double.

In terms of future planning, "Hefei Tianyao" will continue to optimize the stable mass production of cadmium zinc telluride substrate products, promote the R & D of indium phosphide (InP) and aluminum nitride (AlN) compound semiconductor products, break through the preparation of related devices, and expand overseas markets and downstream detector integration business.

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This article is from the WeChat public account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.