Why it issues: Many consider that glass substrate know-how will allow the trade to maintain Moore’s Law past 2030, guaranteeing steady improvement with out being constrained by course of measurement limitations. Samsung goals to outpace Intel, which has been researching glass substrates for almost a decade and intends to incorporate them into business merchandise by 2030. With its up to date timeline, the South Korean conglomerate stands likelihood of launching its merchandise forward of Intel.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is accelerating its efforts in the semiconductor glass substrate market by advancing its tools procurement and set up actions to September. According to ETNews, it can additionally launch a pilot line for its next-gen packaging in Sejong, South Korea, in the fourth quarter – one quarter forward of schedule.
Earlier this 12 months, the subsidiary initiated R&D work on glass substrates and began exploring potential use circumstances.
While Samsung hinted at the way forward for glass substrates throughout CES 2024, it now seems that the South Korean conglomerate is shifting ahead extra swiftly to acquire a aggressive edge, notably in opposition to Intel. Samsung now anticipates commencing manufacturing of glass substrates for high-end system-in-packages in 2026.
The firm has finalized its listing of suppliers for the initiatives, deciding on Philoptics, Chemtronics, Joongwoo M-Tech, and Germany’s LPKF to present elements.
Glass substrate holds appreciable promise for advancing the scaling of transistors in semiconductor packages. Intel forecasts that by the finish of the decade, the semiconductor trade will hit its limits in scaling transistors on silicon packages utilizing natural substrates due to their greater energy consumption, susceptibility to shrinkage, and warping.
In distinction, glass provides ultra-low flatness, enabling elements to be positioned nearer collectively, together with superior thermal and mechanical stability, main to considerably greater interconnect density in substrates, probably up to a 10x improve. These benefits empower chip architects to design high-density, high-performance chip packages suited to data-intensive duties like synthetic intelligence.
Apple can be exploring the potential of glass substrate and reportedly partaking in discussions with numerous suppliers, together with doubtless Samsung, to develop a technique for integrating glass substrates into digital gadgets.
However, a number of challenges lie forward, together with the want to deal with integration and interface engineering points, as highlighted by Rahul Manepalli, fellow and director of substrate TD module engineering at Intel. Other obstacles embrace fragility, insufficient adhesion to steel wires, and difficulties in reaching uniform through fill, essential for constant electrical efficiency.
Nevertheless, optimism prevails concerning resolving these challenges. The world glass substrate market is projected to attain $2.3 billion this 12 months and is predicted to witness a strong compound annual development fee (CAGR) of 5.9 % from 2024 to 2034, with market income for glass substrate anticipated to attain $4.2 billion by 2034.
