Source: Content compiled from eenewseurope

In the last days of the Biden administration in the United States, it has been confirmed that Absolics has been awarded a $75 million bonus to manufacture glass substrates for AI chip packaging.

Absolics, a subsidiary of South Korea's SKC, is building a 120,000-square-foot plant in Covington, Georgia, to develop substrate technology for advanced semiconductor packaging. These glass substrates will be used to improve the performance of cutting-edge chips used in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing and data centers by reducing power consumption and system complexity.

A KC spokesperson said: "With stable access to funds, we will be able to smoothly advance our commercialization plans for glass substrates. We will continue to promote research and development to maintain our technological advantages based on glass substrate technology."

In addition, semiconductor equipment manufacturer Entegris has also received $77 million in funding to build a manufacturing center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which is scheduled to begin initial commercial operations in 2025. The plant will initially support the production of liquid filtration products, as well as front-opening unified pods (FOUPs) for handling semiconductor wafers.

"We are pleased to receive this important funding to help strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry infrastructure," said Bertrand Loy, Entegris President and CEO. "This further expands our ability to meet the critical needs of our customers while contributing to the local economy in Colorado Springs."

Glass substrates are about to be mass-produced, with technology giants taking the lead

Recently, Intel, AMD, Samsung, LG Innotek, SKC's US subsidiary Absolics, etc. have all paid close attention to glass substrate technology for advanced packaging. Glass substrate technology has become a rising star in the field of advanced packaging due to its excellent performance.

In September 2023, Intel announced the so-called "next-generation advanced packaging glass substrate technology", claiming that it will completely change the entire chip packaging field. Glass substrate refers to replacing organic materials in organic packaging with glass instead of replacing the entire substrate. Therefore, Intel will not install the chip on pure glass, but make the core material of the substrate from glass.

Intel said that glass substrates will lay the foundation for the amazing scale of one trillion transistors in a single package in the next decade. Given its broad prospects, there have been rumors recently that Intel plans to mass-produce glass substrates as early as 2026. Intel has invested nearly a decade in glass substrate technology and currently has a complete glass research line in Arizona, USA. The company said that the cost of this production line exceeds $1 billion and requires cooperation with equipment and material partners to establish a complete ecosystem. Currently, only a few companies in the industry can afford such an investment, and Intel seems to be the only company that has successfully developed glass substrates.

In addition to Intel, SKC's US subsidiary Absolics, AMD, Samsung and others are also optimistic about the broad development prospects of glass substrates.

In 2022, SKC's US subsidiary Absolics invested approximately 300 billion won to build its first factory dedicated to the production of glass substrates in Covington, Georgia, USA. Recently, the company announced that the factory has been completed and has begun mass production of prototype products. Industry analysts believe that this marks a critical moment in the global glass substrate market.

Samsung has formed an alliance consisting of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display to jointly develop glass substrates, with the goal of starting large-scale mass production in 2026 and commercializing the technology faster than Intel. It is reported that Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to install all necessary equipment on the pilot production line by September this year and start operations in the fourth quarter.

AMD plans to launch glass substrates between 2025 and 2026 and work with global component companies to maintain its leading position. According to Korean media reports, AMD is conducting performance evaluation tests on glass substrate samples from several major semiconductor substrate companies in the world, intending to introduce this advanced substrate technology into the semiconductor manufacturing field.

At present, with the emergence of new companies such as SCHMID, and the participation of laser equipment suppliers, display manufacturers, and chemical suppliers, the industry is gradually forming some new supply chains around glass core substrates and forming a diversified ecosystem.

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