Revolution of glass substrate: how TGV technology reshapes the core architecture of intelligent devices
In the race for device miniaturization and performance limit, a technology originating from semiconductor packaging is quietly changing the gene of intelligent devices. Glass through hole (TGV) technology – through Glass substrate To build a vertical conductive channel in order to achieve electrical interconnection is breaking through the physical limitations of traditional silicon based packaging and becoming an invisible driver of innovation in medical, automotive, consumer electronics and other fields.
1、 Medical and health equipment: a breakthrough in precision diagnosis and treatment
The epidemic situation battle of DNA sequencing chip
In the new coronavirus epidemic in 2020, a gene sequencing enterprise in Shenzhen is facing a bottleneck in the capacity of testing equipment. WaferPlus was appointed to accelerate the production of DNA sequencing chips with its borosilicate glass substrate technology. The chip realizes the vertical interconnection between the micro channel and the electrode through TGV, which increases the detection flux by three times, reduces the reagent consumption by 50%, and finally realizes the detection capability of 100000 people per day.
Miniaturization of endoscope sensor
The traditional endoscopic imaging module is limited by the physical space of wire bonding. The MEMS motion sensor using TGV technology integrates 16 copper filled through holes (depth diameter ratio up to 1:5) on a 2mm diameter glass substrate, directly connecting the CMOS image sensor and the processing chip vertically. This not only compresses the module thickness to 0.8mm, but also reduces the image transmission delay from 5ms to 0.2ms, realizing real-time image feedback during surgery.
2、 Consumer Electronics: An Evolutionary Engine for Display and Interaction
Glass based revolution of Mini LED direct display
When the traditional PCB substrate restricts the breakthrough of Mini LED spacing, TGV technology brings about a turnaround. The glass based TGV backplane developed by Vogel Optoelectronics realizes through hole metallization of 20 μ m aperture on the 515 × 510mm panel. With the Seal series detection equipment of precision measurement electronics, LED chips can be directly mounted on the glass substrate, reducing the pixel spacing to P0.4, and improving the contrast to 1000000:1, becoming the core carrier of ultra-high definition business display.
Biosensor fusion of wearable devices
The blood oxygen monitoring of smart watches was limited by the size and power consumption of sensors. A head manufacturer uses TGV glass substrate (CTE 3.2 ppm/K), integrated with optical capacitive pulse wave (PPG) sensor and microprocessor. The glass through-hole acts as both an optical channel and an electrical signal channel, reducing the sensor power consumption to 1.2mW, improving the accuracy to medical level (error<2%), and extending the endurance by 40%.
3、 Automotive Electronics: Reliability Transition of Safety System
Glass based reconstruction of millimeter wave radar
Automatic driving requires very high phase consistency of 77GHz millimeter wave radar. A Tier 1 supplier redesigned the antenna module with TGV technology: the glass substrate with low dielectric constant (Dk=5.4) reduced signal loss, and TGV realized the vertical interconnection between the antenna array and the RF chip. The test shows that the beam pointing accuracy is improved to 0.1 degree, the detection distance is increased by 70 meters, and the false alarm rate is reduced by 35%.
Multidimensional monitoring of battery management system
Electric vehicle battery pack needs to monitor hundreds of electric cells in real time. Multiple groups of voltage/temperature sensors are stacked through TGV glass interlayer (100 μ m thick), and the through holes are filled with copper columns (resistance<10m Ω), so that the sampling period is shortened from 100ms to 10ms. When the temperature of a cell is abnormal, the system can start cooling within 50ms to avoid thermal runaway.
4、 Industrial Internet of Things: the cornerstone of stability in extreme environments
Industrial robot joint sensor system
The joint torque sensor of ABB mechanical arm has been troubled by electromagnetic interference for a long time. After the strain gauge is encapsulated with D263T glass substrate, TGV structure embeds the signal line in the glass to shield external magnetic field interference. The data shows that under the strong magnetic field of 10kA/m, the signal drift decreases from ± 5% to ± 0.2%, and the positioning accuracy is improved to 10 μ m.
Corrosion resistance breakthrough of oil field pressure sensor
Pressure sensors in offshore wells shall be resistant to H ₂ S corrosion. Halliburton uses TGV technology to seal piezoresistive chips, and directly fuses borosilicate glass and silicon through anodic bonding. The through-hole is filled with gold tin alloy, which can work continuously for 18 months under 150 ℃ and 10MPa hydrogen sulfide environment without failure, and the maintenance cycle is extended by 3 times.
Technical challenges and industrial breakthrough
Despite its broad prospects, TGV industrialization still faces three hurdles:
- Micropore metallization bottleneck : When the hole diameter is less than 10 μ m, the copper filling is easy to produce holes. Dongwei Technology has realized 5:1 depth diameter ratio through hole solid filling through non single-sided copper electroplating technology
- Glass brittleness restriction : Kunshan Dongwei developed magnetron sputtering equipment to generate nano compressive stress layer on the glass surface, and the bending strength increased by 300%
- Mass production cost pressure : Panel level TGV (600 × 600mm) reduces the packaging cost of a single sensor from 0.8 to 0.3, and promotes the popularity of disposable endoscopes
Future: the rise of glass based intelligent ecology
With the iteration of materials and processes, TGV is opening a new dimension:
- Photoelectric co packaging (CPO) : Intel glass based TGV adapter board realizes millimeter level coupling between optical engine and chip, and data transmission power consumption is reduced to 1.2pJ/bit
- Neural interface breakthrough : Flexible glass based TGV electrode array (aperture 3 μ m) realizes single neuron signal acquisition in brain computer interface, with a resolution of 20 μ m
- Self powered sensor : TGV structure combined with thermoelectric materials (Bi ₂ Te ∨), uses temperature difference to generate electricity, extending the battery life of implantable medical equipment to 10 years
The glass substrate is no longer just a passive component – when the precision measuring electronic detection equipment scans the 0.1 μ m metal residue in the TGV through-hole, and when the WaferPlus glass wafer captures the base signal in the DNA sequencer, this technology has quietly become the core skeleton of intelligent devices to perceive the world.
From microsensors at scalpel tips to autopilot radar beams, from bioelectricity acquisition of wearable devices to pressure monitoring of deep-sea oil wells, TGV technology is redefining the physical boundaries of intelligent devices. When the permeability of glass and the flexibility of electronics blend here, a more precise, reliable and interconnected intelligent world is slowly emerging.