On May 6, 2021, Samsung announced that its next-generation 2.5D packaging technology Interposer-Cube4 (I-Cube4) is immediately available to lead the development of chip packaging technology once again.
This new chip packaging technology will intensify competition with Taiwan’s TSMC (TSMC), which is currently the world’s leading foundry company, and the company has been relying on its packaging technology to increase its market share.
The company’s I-Cube4 is a heterogeneous integration technology that can place one or more logic dies (CPU, GPU, etc.) and several high-bandwidth memory (HBM) dies horizontally on a silicon interposer. This allows multiple dies to work as one chip in one package.
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Samsung’s new i-Cube 4 (including four HBMs and a logic chip) was developed in March and is the successor to i-Q2. From high-performance computing (HPC) to AI, 5G, cloud, and large data center applications, I-Cube4 is expected to bring faster communication and energy efficiency between logic and storage through heterogeneous integration.
Moonsoo Kang, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics’ foundry market strategy, said:
“With the explosive growth of high-performance applications, it is essential to provide an overall casting solution with heterogeneous integration technology to improve the overall performance and power efficiency of the chip. Through the accumulated mass production experience of I-Cube2 and the commercial breakthrough of I-Cube4, Samsung will fully support customers’ product implementation. “
Generally, the area of the silicon law clamp is increased proportionally to accommodate more logic deaths and HBM. Since the silicon interposer in the i-cube is thinner (about 100 microns) than paper, larger interposers are more likely to bend or warp, which will have a negative impact on product quality.
Samsung has studied how to control the warpage and thermal expansion of the partition wall by changing its material and thickness. With its expertise and rich knowledge in the semiconductor field, it has achieved the commercialization of the i-Cube 4 solution.
In addition, the company has also developed its own moldless structure for i-Cube 4 to eliminate heat and increase yield by conducting a pre-screening test that can filter out defective products during the manufacturing process. This approach also provides other benefits, such as reduced processing steps, cost savings, and reduced turnaround time.
(Source)
