Glass core substrates and glass interposers: new growth engines for glass in advanced packaging for AI and HPC
Yole Group’s new report, Glass Materials for Advanced Packaging 2025, covers how glass has evolved from a standard wafer carrier to a key piece on the board of next-generation AI engine architectures, with applications ranging from chiplets to co-packaged optics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Glass adoption is accelerating from various entry points in high-end performance packaging, including packaging for AI accelerators, HPC, and RF telecom markets, and is building the pillars of a new era.
Glass-based technologies share many entry points with panel-level packaging, with the same goal of increasing package sizes and integration density.
Regional supply ecosystems in China, Korea, and Japan are rapidly developing to support local demand and reduce dependence on alternatives.
The fastest near-term growth is in data center and telecom RF packaging, while automotive and defense applications ensure long-term stability and high margins.
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As semiconductor chip architectures become more complex and performance-driven, the materials enabling advanced packaging are evolving just as fast. Yole Group’s new report, Glass Materials for Advanced Packaging 2025, provides the first in-depth analysis dedicated to the fast-growing glass materials market across multiple packaging platforms, including glass core substrates, glass interposers, glass carriers, TGVs , and glass-based emerging technologies. This comprehensive report delivers a complete picture of market dynamics, technology evolution, and supply chain strategies shaping glass adoption in advanced packaging.
Yole Group’s analysts examine the market trends and drivers for each major application, along with forecasts for production volumes, panel production, and revenues. They also detailed technology roadmaps describing key processes and key manufacturing challenges, the different approaches at each process step, as well as the developing ecosystem in each region. Moreover, Yole Group provides an overview of the supply chain, identifying the key players, their positioning, and collaborations, and a description of the regional ecosystems in China, Korea, and Japan, highlighting local innovation and strategic capabilities.
Glass materials are now entering a high-growth phase, driven by need and demand from data centers, telecommunications, and AI/HPC applications. In data centers, glass guarantees the critical packaging vectors for chiplet fabrics and optical I/O, while in telecommunications, low-loss glass stacks are reshaping 5G/6G RF front ends by reducing size, improving thermal behavior, and enabling higher frequencies.
The report also highlights how panel-based glass interposers and carriers are becoming essential to large-area packaging and co-packaged optics, as system designers push beyond the limits of traditional silicon and organic substrates.
Key results and industry megatrends
Yole Group’s latest analysis reveals that glass materials are now positioned at the core of the semiconductor packaging revolution, fueled by megatrends such as AI, HPC , 5G/6G connectivity, and co-packaged optics. Analysts highlight that glass’s unique properties, including low CTE , superior dimensional stability, and optical transparency, make it indispensable for meeting the mechanical, electrical, and thermal demands of next-generation packaging.
According to Yole Group, data centers and telecommunications are the main growth engines driving the adoption of glass in packaging, with additional momentum coming from automotive, defense, and premium consumer electronics. These sectors increasingly rely on chiplet integration, hybrid bonding, and panel-level manufacturing, where glass provides both performance gains and cost advantages. The analysis also identifies the emergence of new supply chains in Asia, especially in China, Korea, and Japan, as critical factors in scaling production and strengthening the global glass ecosystem for advanced packaging.
Bilal Hachemi
Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Packaging at Yole Group
Glass has quietly moved from a supporting role to a central enabler in advanced packaging. Its mechanical stability, optical transparency, and low coefficient of thermal expansion make it ideal for high-density, high-performance integration, exactly what AI, data center, and 5G applications now demand.
A strategic piece of Yole Group’s packaging expertise
This new report is part of Yole Group’s comprehensive collection of semiconductor packaging market and technology analyses, which includes deep-dive studies and teardown reports covering advanced substrates, interconnects, heterogeneous integration, and system-in-package platforms. Yole Group’s analysts have been investigating the evolution of glass in advanced packaging for several years, tracking each step of its transition from a niche support material to a strategic enabler of innovation. Through continuous research and collaboration with key industry players, the team provides ever-deeper insight into how glass technologies are shaping market growth, manufacturing ecosystems, and next-generation integration strategies.
With Glass Materials for Advanced Packaging 2025, Yole Group once again demonstrates its expertise in semiconductor materials and packaging analysis, delivering data-driven insights into market trajectories, technology challenges, and the business opportunities created by the rise of glass. This new report is part of the semiconductor packaging collection of reports and teardowns.
Yole Group is pleased to announce its participation in IMPACT 2025 (International Microsystems, Packaging, Assembly and Circuits Technology Conference). This event offers a unique opportunity to connect with the global packaging community and to present our strategic insights on technology roadmaps and market evolution. Yole Group is delighted to contribute to the 2025 program with a dedicated presentation scheduled for October 22.
Title: Advanced packaging and IC substrates in the AI and HPC era
Speaker: Bilal Hachemi, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Packaging at Yole Group
Bilal Hachemi Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Packaging at Yole GroupGlass has quietly moved from a supporting role to a central enabler in advanced packaging. Its mechanical stability, optical transparency, and low coefficient of thermal expansion make it ideal for high-density, high-performance integration, exactly what AI, data center, and 5G applications now demand.
