Samsung Electro-Mechanics will verify the reliability at the packaging stage by bonding customer chips onto large glass substrates, which are gaining attention as next-generation semiconductor substrates (photo). The company has completed self-verification of the glass substrate itself after providing samples to customers. Commercialization of glass substrates is accelerating due to the scaling up of AI (artificial intelligence) accelerators and increased infrastructure investment.
According to electronics industry sources on the 6th, Samsung Electro-Mechanics has completed reliability verification for its glass substrate under development and has moved on to verifying the packaging stage where actual semiconductors are assembled. The company is currently also engaged in development collaborations with multiple major global companies. Its goal is to begin operating a glass substrate production line by the end of 2027.
The glass substrate being developed by Samsung Electro-Mechanics is reported to measure 100 x 100 mm. Considering that the package substrate for NVIDIA's Blackwell GPU (graphics processing unit) measures approximately 81.5 x 74.8 mm, its area is more than 60% larger. It features over 20 circuit layers for transmitting power and various electrical signals, and incorporates more than 80 IPDs (integrated passive devices), which are responsible for stabilizing power supply among other functions.
The reason glass substrates are drawing attention lies in the scaling up of AI accelerators. As multiple chips, such as GPUs and HBM (high-bandwidth memory), are integrated into a single package, the substrate size is also rapidly increasing. Existing organic material substraces face difficulties in maintaining the precision of fine circuits while suppressing warping as their size grows.
Glass substrates apply glass to the core material, reducing warping and maintaining high flatness and dimensional stability even over large areas. They are considered next-generation substrates for large-scale, highly integrated AI semiconductors because they can improve signal and power characteristics while reducing the number of circuit layers.
The industry expects demand for large package substrates with one side measuring around 100 mm to fully materialize starting from NVIDIA's Rubin generation. It is reported that NVIDIA has requested major global substrate manufacturers to commercialize glass substrates within two years. As BOE, China's largest display manufacturer, also moves into glass substrate development and investment, competition for market leadership is expanding.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics will expand its investment in package substrates for AI servers. Recently, it decided on an additional investment of 427 billion won to expand FCBGA (Flip Chip-Ball Grid Array) production capacity at its Sejong plant. It also plans to invest 251 billion won in expanding its package substrate factory in Vietnam.
To expand production capacity, the company ordered 'MSVP' (Micro SAW & Vision Placement) equipment worth 24.5 billion won from Hanmi Semiconductor. MSVP is a back-end process equipment that performs precision cutting and inspection/placement processes, used for printed circuit boards and glass substrates, among others. Since Hanmi Semiconductor's past patent dispute with Semes, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, large-scale orders from Samsung affiliates have been effectively suspended since the early 2010s.
The expansion of AI infrastructure is also leading to increased orders for MLCCs (multilayer ceramic capacitors), a core business of Samsung Electro-Mechanics. On this day, the company signed a long-term supply contract worth 290 billion won with a major global company for MLCCs for AI servers. This is its sixth long-term supply contract this year, bringing the cumulative contract value to approximately 390 billion won.
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