[Report] 'Ultrafine substrate with hair thickness 1/40th competitiveness... Blocks even a single speck of dust'

Visited Semiconductor Package Substrate Core Base Sejong Plant on the 2nd

Maintaining High Quality with a Clean Environment
Confidence in Embedding Technology

Producing Ultra-Fine Process Package Substrates through New Factory
Completion Targeted for First Half of Next Year

The Sejong Plant of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which produces semiconductor package substrates. After wearing dustproof suits, dustproof hats, masks, and indoor shoes and taking an air shower for about 30 seconds, the production line was barely entered, where equipment was running nonstop. The clean environment stood out, as reflected in the internal phrase, "The dust I overlooked returns as defects." All makeup, including sunscreen, tint, and mascara, is prohibited to prevent the intrusion of foreign substances. Sunlight is completely blocked. The internal temperature must be maintained between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius. This is to ensure the best condition so that production robots and products are not damaged.

The Sejong Plant, visited on the 2nd, began producing multilayer printed circuit boards (MLB) for PCs in 1991, marking the first step in Samsung Electro-Mechanics' substrate business. Since 1997, through the production of high value-added semiconductor package substrates, it is now considered a major production base for package substrates along with the Busan Plant. Approximately 1,800 employees work in 12 buildings, including factories, support, and welfare buildings, producing package substrates used in mobile APs for smartphones and tablet PCs, memory semiconductors, communication modules such as 5G antennas, and automotive semiconductors.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics employees are explaining the semiconductor package substrate production line at the Sejong plant on the 2nd.
[Photo by Samsung Electro-Mechanics]

Samsung Electro-Mechanics likens package substrates to bones, nerves, and blood vessels. If the semiconductor chip is the brain, the package substrate is described as the bones protecting the brain and the nerves and blood vessels that connect and transmit information from the brain to each organ. It transmits electrical signals between the semiconductor and the main substrate and protects the semiconductor from external shocks.

The most important factor Samsung Electro-Mechanics considers when making package substrates is maintaining high quality. On-site workers undergo multiple verification processes with dozens of pieces of equipment to detect functional defects and verify quality within the production process. Throughout the plant, phrases emphasizing quality such as "Gaining customer trust is difficult, but losing it is easy" and "War against defects" are posted.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Suwon Plant exterior. [Photo by Samsung Electro-Mechanics]

Confidence in technology to produce high-performance semiconductor package substrates was also expressed. The core technologies for implementing thin and high-functionality sets are "microfabrication technology" and "microcircuit implementation." Samsung Electro-Mechanics emphasized that it can realize vias (holes connecting each layer) at about 10 μm, which is one-tenth the thickness of A4 paper, and circuit line widths at about 3 μm, which is one-fortieth the thickness of a human hair.

In particular, the differentiated technology unique to the Sejong Plant is the "embedding" technology. The embedding method is a technology that embeds passive components such as capacitors, which were previously mounted on the substrate surface, inside the substrate. This reduces the signal path length, cutting power loss by more than 50%, and is advantageous for high-speed signal transmission. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is the only domestic substrate company possessing embedding technology.

Employees are managing equipment at Samsung Electro-Mechanics Sejong Plant.
[Photo by Samsung Electro-Mechanics]

Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to widen the ultra-fine process gap through a new plant. In a situation where 2.5D packaging technology, a new semiconductor stacking method for ARM-based CPUs, is gaining attention, the strategy is to increase product production speed by applying equipment, infrastructure, and logistics automation production systems capable of integrated production from raw materials to final products. The new plant is accelerating construction with the goal of completion in the first half of next year.

Shim Gyu-hyun, Executive Director of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Package Solutions, explained, "The new plant focuses on technology more than CAPEX (capital expenditure). It is not about how much we can produce, but whether we can or cannot, so we approached it from a technology perspective."

The reason Samsung Electro-Mechanics is increasing investment in package substrates is market growth potential. The package substrate market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about 10%, from $10.6 billion in 2023 to $15.2 billion in 2027. In particular, it is expected to drive market growth centered on industrial and automotive sectors such as 5G antennas, ARM CPUs, servers, automotive, and networks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.