Why it issues: Many consider that tumbler substrate know-how will allow the trade to maintain Moore’s Legislation past 2030, guaranteeing steady growth with out being constrained by course of measurement limitations. Samsung goals to outpace Intel, which has been researching glass substrates for practically a decade and intends to include them into industrial merchandise by 2030. With its up to date timeline, the South Korean conglomerate stands a great probability of launching its merchandise forward of Intel.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is accelerating its efforts within the semiconductor glass substrate market by advancing its gear procurement and set up actions to September. Based on ETNews, it’ll additionally launch a pilot line for its next-gen packaging in Sejong, South Korea, within the fourth quarter – one quarter forward of schedule.
Earlier this yr, the subsidiary initiated R&D work on glass substrates and began exploring potential use circumstances.
Whereas Samsung hinted at the way forward for glass substrates throughout CES 2024, it now seems that the South Korean conglomerate is transferring ahead extra swiftly to realize a aggressive edge, significantly towards Intel. Samsung now anticipates commencing manufacturing of glass substrates for high-end system-in-packages in 2026.
The corporate has finalized its listing of suppliers for the initiatives, deciding on Philoptics, Chemtronics, Joongwoo M-Tech, and Germany’s LPKF to supply elements.
Glass substrate holds appreciable promise for advancing the scaling of transistors in semiconductor packages. Intel forecasts that by the top of the last decade, the semiconductor trade will hit its limits in scaling transistors on silicon packages utilizing natural substrates because of their larger energy consumption, susceptibility to shrinkage, and warping.
In distinction, glass presents ultra-low flatness, enabling elements to be positioned nearer collectively, together with superior thermal and mechanical stability, resulting in considerably larger interconnect density in substrates, probably as much as a 10x enhance. These benefits empower chip architects to design high-density, high-performance chip packages suited to data-intensive duties like synthetic intelligence.
Apple can also be exploring the potential of glass substrate and reportedly participating in discussions with numerous suppliers, together with seemingly Samsung, to develop a method for integrating glass substrates into digital gadgets.
Nevertheless, a number of challenges lie forward, together with the necessity to deal with integration and interface engineering points, as highlighted by Rahul Manepalli, fellow and director of substrate TD module engineering at Intel. Different obstacles embrace fragility, insufficient adhesion to metallic wires, and difficulties in attaining uniform through fill, essential for constant electrical efficiency.
Nonetheless, optimism prevails relating to resolving these challenges. The worldwide glass substrate market is projected to succeed in $2.3 billion this yr and is anticipated to witness a strong compound annual development price (CAGR) of 5.9 p.c from 2024 to 2034, with market income for glass substrate anticipated to succeed in $4.2 billion by 2034.
