South Korean media outlet THE ELEC reports that Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEM) and Qualcomm have been collaborating for over a year on 2.1D advanced packaging technology for AI semiconductor chips. The partnership, which includes research and certification phases, aims to deliver a cost-effective heterogeneous integration platform.
The 2.1D packaging approach uses embedded organic bridge dies, a design conceptually similar to Intel's EMIB (Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge) but substituting silicon bridges with cheaper organic materials. This not only reduces manufacturing costs but also sidesteps Intel's EMIB patents, according to the report.
Organic bridge details
The organic bridge developed by SEM is a small substrate formed with RDL (redistribution layer) processes, featuring 5 to 7 layers of microcircuits. The target specifications include line width and spacing of 1.5 to 2 micrometers, via sizes of 4 to 5 micrometers, and pattern densities of 500 to 1000 per millimeter.
Compared to traditional FC-BGA stacked circuits, organic bridges enable finer wiring, leading to higher I/O bandwidth. This is crucial for AI accelerators that demand massive data transfer between logic and memory dies.
The development reflects a broader industry trend toward advanced packaging as a key enabler for AI performance, especially as Moore's Law scaling slows. For Qualcomm, this could translate into more efficient AI processing in future products, from data center chips to edge devices.
According to the report, the collaboration has been ongoing for more than a year, indicating that commercial deployment might still be some time away. However, the progress underscores the strategic importance of packaging innovation in the semiconductor industry.
