Why it issues: Many consider that cup substrate expertise will allow the trade to maintain Moore’s Regulation past 2030, guaranteeing steady growth with out being constrained by course of dimension 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 tools procurement and set up actions to September. In response to ETNews, it can 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 instances.
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 achieve 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 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 trade will hit its limits in scaling transistors on silicon packages utilizing natural substrates as a result of their greater energy consumption, susceptibility to shrinkage, and warping.
In distinction, glass affords 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, probably as much as a 10x enhance. 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 partaking in discussions with numerous suppliers, together with probably Samsung, to develop a method for integrating glass substrates into digital units.
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 embrace fragility, insufficient adhesion to metallic wires, and difficulties in attaining uniform by way of fill, essential for constant electrical efficiency.
However, optimism prevails concerning resolving these challenges. The worldwide glass substrate market is projected to achieve $2.3 billion this yr and is anticipated to witness a strong compound annual progress price (CAGR) of 5.9 % from 2024 to 2034, with market income for glass substrate anticipated to achieve $4.2 billion by 2034.