Intel seems pretty excited about glass substrates

These days when we talk about what's next for chip design, we focus on things like cramming in more cores, increasing clock speeds, shrinking transistors and 3D stacking. We rarely think about the package substrate, which holds and connects those components. Today Intel, in the midst of its reinvention as a foundry company, has announced it's made a major breakthrough in substrate materials—and it's all about glass.

The company says its new glass substrate, which is set to arrive in advanced chip designs later this decade, will be stronger and more efficient than existing organic materials. Glass will also allow the company to cram more chiplets and other components next to each other, something that could lead to flexing and instability with an existing silicon package using organic materials.

"Glass substrates can tolerate higher temperatures, offer 50% less pattern distortion, and have ultra-low flatness for ...