Shining a Light on the Future: Silicon Photonics and Panel-Level Packaging Revolutionize the Semiconductor Industry
- (Central News Agency reporter Zhang Jianzhong, Taipei, 3rd) The International Semiconductor Exhibition will be held on September 4.
- This year's international semiconductor exhibition SEMICON Taiwan 2024, the theme of "Empowering AI Without Limits", will bring together AI industry chains such as TSMC, ASE, MediaTek, Hon Hai...
- With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), industrial requirements for high-efficiency data processing and transmission have increased significantly, and silicon photonics has become a key technology.
2024/9/3 10:38
(Updated 9/3 12:43)
International Semiconductor Exhibition to Attract 85,000 Visitors
(Central News Agency reporter Zhang Jianzhong, Taipei, 3rd) The International Semiconductor Exhibition will be held on September 4. With the three major memory makers SK Hynix, Samsung and Microsoft and Dell expected to gather in Taiwan, it is expected to attract 56 countries and 85,000 visitors, with Taiwan’s AI industry chain once again in the center of global attention after the Taipei International Computer Show in June.
This year’s international semiconductor exhibition SEMICON Taiwan 2024, the theme of “Empowering AI Without Limits”, will bring together AI industry chains such as TSMC, ASE, MediaTek, Hon Hai and Quanta to discuss topics such as advanced processes and heterogeneous integration in a high-tech valuable large scale. Exhibition. Silicon photonics and panel-level fan-out packaging are also key AI-related technologies and keywords at the Semiconductor Exhibition.
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), industrial requirements for high-efficiency data processing and transmission have increased significantly, and silicon photonics has become a key technology. To this end, TSMC and ASE have called on more than 30 companies, including Proway and Shangquan, to unite Taiwan’s semiconductor, electronics industry and optoelectronic technologies to promote silicon photonics technology and establish a silicon photonics industry alliance to further consolidate Taiwan’s technological status.
At present, the industry mostly uses silicon wafers to make computing components, if the ”optical waveguide” material that can process optical signals can be integrated into the silicon wafer, and the silicon wafer can process the calculation of electrical signals. And at the same time the transmission of optical signals, called “silicon photons”.
Because light has no charge or mass, compared to electrical signals, optical signals have High bandwidth, low power consumption, long transmission distance Such features can not only improve the signal transmission speed, but also solve the signal loss and heat problems caused by current computer components using copper wire.
In addition to advanced computing architecture, data center and cloud computing, silicon photons are also suitable for developing applications in fields such as optical radar, biomedical sensing, quantum optics and artificial intelligence. According to estimates, the output value of the global silicon photonics market will reach USD 7.86 billion in 2030, with a CAGR of 25.7%.
Silicon photonics has high growth potential, but silicon photonic integrated circuits need to integrate multiple optical components such as optical couplers and modulators on the same substrate. At this stage, silicon photonics is mostly used in niche markets and chip foundries are customization. There are no unified specifications and standards for various types of optical components, packaging processes and materials that can achieve better comprehensive effects in various industries such as IC design, wafer foundry, packaging modules and optoelectronic platforms.
In addition, the development and integration of silicon photonics technology requires the integration of electronic and optical principles at the same time. It requires a large investment in research and development costs such as capital, manpower and time to manufacture electronic and optical. Silicon photonics components are compatible with each other and are long-lasting and stable.
In response to the strong demand for high-performance computing chips driven by the AI boom, research and development of advanced packaging technologies has been in full swing in recent years. Among them, fan-out panel-level packaging is a powerful tool for heterogeneous integration of advanced packaging, Samsung and Intel are actively investing in it, and NVIDIA has revealed that it will adopt it as early as 2025.
Panel-level fan-out packaging is packaged through the panel production line and rectangular substrate, the utilization rate of the rectangular area is 95%, so more chipsets can be placed on a single wafer. At the same time, as the carrier area is larger, the number of winding layers can be reduced, which also significantly helps reduce process costs.
Since the substrate material is changed to glass, it can not only accommodate more I/O numbers, but also achieve higher crystal density, more powerful performance and save energy consumption. According to estimates by market research firms, the global fan-out packaging market will witness a CAGR of 15.1% from 2020 to 2026 and is expected to increase business opportunities in the future. However, current issues such as panel warp control still need to be overcome.