Why it issues: Many consider that tumbler substrate know-how will allow the business to maintain Moore’s Regulation past 2030, making certain 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 business merchandise by 2030. With its up to date timeline, the South Korean conglomerate stands an excellent probability of launching its merchandise forward of Intel.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is accelerating its efforts within the semiconductor glass substrate market by advancing its tools procurement and set up actions to September. In line with ETNews, it’s going to 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 12 months, the subsidiary initiated R&D work on glass substrates and began exploring potential use instances.
Whereas 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 achieve a aggressive edge, significantly in opposition to Intel. Samsung now anticipates commencing manufacturing of glass substrates for high-end system-in-packages in 2026.
The corporate has finalized its record of suppliers for the tasks, choosing Philoptics, Chemtronics, Joongwoo M-Tech, and Germany’s LPKF to supply parts.
Glass substrate holds appreciable promise for advancing the scaling of transistors in semiconductor packages. Intel forecasts that by the tip of the last decade, the semiconductor business will hit its limits in scaling transistors on silicon packages utilizing natural substrates attributable to their greater energy consumption, susceptibility to shrinkage, and warping.
In distinction, glass provides ultra-low flatness, enabling parts to be positioned nearer collectively, together with superior thermal and mechanical stability, resulting in considerably greater interconnect density in substrates, doubtlessly as much as a 10x improve. These benefits empower chip architects to design high-density, high-performance chip packages fitted to data-intensive duties like synthetic intelligence.
Apple can be exploring the potential of glass substrate and reportedly participating in discussions with varied suppliers, together with probably Samsung, to develop a method for integrating glass substrates into digital gadgets.
Nonetheless, 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 embody fragility, insufficient adhesion to metallic wires, and difficulties in reaching uniform by way of fill, essential for constant electrical efficiency.
Nonetheless, optimism prevails concerning resolving these challenges. The worldwide glass substrate market is projected to succeed in $2.3 billion this 12 months and is predicted to witness a strong compound annual development charge (CAGR) of 5.9 % from 2024 to 2034, with market income for glass substrate anticipated to succeed in $4.2 billion by 2034.
