Robert Stephen Wagner

Development of substrates for through glass vias (TGV) for 3DS-IC integration

Through-substrate vias (TSV) are critical for Three-Dimensional Stacked Integrated Circuits (3DS-IC) integration. While silicon traditionally has been used in this application, glass has properties that make it a very intriguing material for through substrate via applications. We note that the term glass describes a broad material set, with a wide range of properties driven by composition. For example, compositional changes allow tailoring of mechanical and thermal properties. Furthermore, novel forming processes available today enable reduction or elimination of time consuming and costly thinning or polishing processes, as well as opportunities to more easily scale the footprint of the substrate. Significant progress has been made to develop techniques to provide suitable through holes for vias in different glass compositions, which leverages the versatility of glass to create a substrate for TSV.