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SCHMID Group N.V., a leading global provider of advanced manufacturing equipment and solutions for the electronics industry, announced that it has received an order for key process equipment from a U.S.-based pioneer in glass-based advanced packaging for its new glass core substrate manufacturing facility in South Asia.
According to the customer’s public announcements, the facility will be South Asia’s first Advanced Packaging site built around glass substrates and 3D heterogeneous integration. Once fully ramped, it is designed to produce around 70,000 glass panels per year, together with glass interposers and advanced 3D heterogeneous integration modules for AI, data center, 5G and aerospace & defense applications.
The project marks one of the first large-scale and significant steps towards volume manufacturing of glass core substrates – a substrate technology expected to become a key enabler for the next generation of AI processors, high-performance computing and data center hardware.
The customer has spent close to two decades developing proprietary photo-definable glass-ceramic and through-glass via (TGV) technology, protected by a broad patent portfolio and backed by leading semiconductor industry investors. With the new facility, the customer is moving its glass technology from development and pilot production into industrial-scale manufacturing.
SCHMID will supply key wet-process equipment for critical process steps in glass core substrate manufacturing, which are decisive for yield, reliability and cost.
Glass core substrates offer significant advantages over conventional organic cores: superior flatness and dimensional stability, lower warpage in large package formats, finer line/space structures, higher interconnect density and improved signal integrity. These properties are becoming essential as AI accelerators and chiplet-based architectures demand ever larger and more complex packages.
The order will be recorded in order intake for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Glass Core Substrates: From Pilot Lines to Volume Manufacturing
SCHMID expanded its Advanced Packaging portfolio over the last years with dedicated equipment and process solutions for glass core substrates, complementing its established InfinityLine platforms for IC substrates, HDI and mSAP manufacturing. The order confirms that the industry is moving from technology evaluation and qualification towards industrial-scale glass core substrate capacity – and that SCHMID is positioned as a key technology partner in this transition.
With its combined expertise in wet processing, plating and vacuum metallization on panel level, SCHMID supports customers along the critical process chain of glass core substrate manufacturing – from TGV formation and metallization to build-up layers.
Executive Statement
“We are proud that a pioneer in glass-based Advanced Packaging has chosen SCHMID as a key equipment partner for this landmark facility. This project is one of the first large-scale steps of our industry towards volume manufacturing of glass core substrates – and SCHMID contributes key technology to it.
Glass core substrates will be one of the enabling technologies for the next generation of AI and high-performance computing. Manufacturing them at scale requires processes that deliver precise through-glass vias, reliable metallization and stable yields on large panel formats. This is exactly where our process know-how and our equipment platforms make the difference.
The order also underlines South Asia’s growing role in the global semiconductor and Advanced Packaging supply chain. We look forward to supporting our customer from installation through ramp-up to high-volume production,” said Roland Rettenmeier, Chief Sales Officer of the SCHMID Group.
