Glass core substrates and 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.

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. 

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, telecoms, 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, said: "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."

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.