The development of chip materials has gone through three generations. The first generation is silicon-based, which includes most current CPUs, SoCs, and nearly all chips. The second generation features materials like gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium antimonide (InSb). The third generation includes silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).
However, over 90% of chips today are still silicon-based. Second- and third-generation materials are only applied in niche areas and cannot genuinely replace silicon.
As silicon chips approach their physical limits, scientists are exploring alternative materials such as graphite and carbon-based substrates. Among these, a promising new material has emerged: glass substrates.
Glass substrates are technically a type of silicon substrate but differ significantly. Compared to traditional silicon, glass substrates offer superior thermo-mechanical properties, including thermal expansion close to silicon and higher heat resistance. Chips made from glass substrates can operate at higher thermal thresholds, resulting in better thermal management in devices. For instance, smartphone chips with glass substrates may experience less frequent overheating and throttling.
Additionally, glass has higher rigidity, making it less prone to deformation. This improves yield rates when manufacturing larger chips. With glass substrates, silicon wafers could potentially be expanded to sizes of 14 inches, 16 inches, 18 inches, or even 20 inches.
Larger silicon wafers would lower manufacturing costs, enable the production of larger-scale chips, and simplify packaging processes. Moreover, the high optical transparency of glass could facilitate integrated optical signaling and high-speed signal transmission directly on the chip in the future.
Beyond heat resistance, rigidity, and transparency, glass chips also offer excellent electrical insulation, minimizing signal interference and enhancing chip stability. Their smoother surface quality allows for higher circuit layer density, which leads to better performance.
In summary, glass substrates represent a significant upgrade over organic silicon substrates for the chip industry. Major players like AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Samsung are actively investing in glass-based chips.
According to media reports, AMD plans to use glass substrates for ultra-high-performance system-in-package (SiP) chips as early as next year. Intel and Samsung might achieve mass production of glass substrate technology by 2026. Other giants like SK Hynix are also entering the glass substrate market. This trend suggests that domestic chip companies should prepare to avoid falling behind these international leaders.
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