Samsung Reportedly Plans to Replace Silicon With Glass Interposers for Advanced AI Chips by 2028

Samsung Electronics is developing a new glass substrate for advanced semiconductor packaging that could be introduced by 2028, according to a report. As demand for AI chips continues to rise, the South Korean tech conglomerate is said to be exploring the use of a glass substrate (instead of silicon) to reduce manufacturing costs, while improving overall performance. Samsung is reportedly developing smaller panel prototypes at the cost of manufacturing efficiency, as part of its efforts to be the first to introduce this technology.

Samsung to Prepare Glass Interposers for AI Chips With Panel-Level Packaging

Citing industry sources, ETNews reports (in Korean) that Samsung is ramping up efforts to develop prototypes that use glass substrates for interposers in its AI chips. Existing semiconductors are built using a 2.5D packaging layout, where the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) surrounds the GPU, connected by a silicon interposer.

Unlike existing chips that use silicon interposers, chipmakers can use glass interposers for 3D stacking of chiplets that are embedded in the substrate, along with chiplets stacked on top of them. The use of glass reportedly leads to a slight increase in temperatures, but the benefits include increased area, signal, power, and thermal integrity.

However, these silicon interposers are extremely expensive to produce, which has prompted chipmakers to explore the use of glass interposers, as well as the eventual use of glass substrates. Instead of using 510×510mm glass panels like Intel or AppSolix (SKC), Samsung is said to be using smaller units that are smaller than 100×100mm. 

As per the report, these chips might not be efficient to produce, but they might help Samsung be one of the first to launch AI chips that offer improved performance while also being easier to produce. Production is expected to begin at Samsung's Cheonan facility, using its existing panel-level packaging (PLP) instead of wafer level packaging (WLP).

Samsung isn't the only semiconductor manufacturer working on replacing silicon substrates with glass, as per the report. According to an older Economic Daily News report (in Korean), TSMC is also developing a 300×300mm panel on a pilot line in Taiwan, and the company is expected to begin production using its Fan-Out Panel-Level Packaging (FOPLP) in 2027.

In the claims made by the South Korean news publication are accurate, Samsung and TSMC could be one of the first chipmakers to introduce advanced AI chips built using glass interposers instead of silicon. These chips could be launched as soon as 2028, while work on building chips with glass substrates could arrive in the coming years.