AMD has been granted a patent (12080632) that covers glass core substrate tech. Glass substrates will replace traditional organic substrates for multi-chiplet processors in the coming years. The patent not only means AMD has worked on appropriate technologies extensively but will enable the company to use glass substrates in the future without risks that a patent troll or competitors could sue it.
Most chipmakers, including Intel and Samsung, are exploring glass substrates for future processors. Although AMD no longer produces its own chips, instead subcontracting them out to TSMC, it still has silicon and chip production research and development operations as the company customizes process technologies offered by its partners to build its products.
Glass substrates are made from materials like borosilicate, quartz, and fused silica, which provide notable benefits compared to traditional organic materials as they feature exceptional flatness, dimensional stability, and superior thermal and mechanical stability. Superior flatness and dimensional stability can improve lithography focus for ultra-dense interconnects in advanced system-in-packages, whereas superior thermal and mechanical stability makes them more reliable for high-temperature, heavy-duty applications like data center processors.