Samsung and Qualcomm develop organic bridge to rival Intel's EMIB packaging

Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Qualcomm have been jointly developing organic bridge technology for 2.1D advanced chip packaging for over a year, per sources cited by The Elec. The organic bridges use PCB-like materials to interconnect dies, challenging Intel's silicon-based EMIB. The alliance aims to serve AI chips and reduce reliance on Intel's packaging IP.

Bottom line — The partners target a die-to-die connection density of 500–1,000 per millimeter, approaching Intel's EMIB performance.

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• Samsung Electro-Mechanics is manufacturing FC-BGA substrates with cavities to embed the organic bridges, considering both in-house production and external procurement, per The Elec.
• The organic bridges feature five to seven redistribution layers with target line widths and spacing of 1.5–2 μm and via sizes of 4–5 μm, the report adds.
• Qualcomm filed a patent for an 'Interconnect Bridge' using organic materials in October 2024 and has been recruiting personnel in South Korea for the technology since March, according to The Elec.
• Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also developing 2.1D package substrates with multiple other customers besides Qualcomm, aiming to avoid IP tied to Intel’s EMIB, the report notes.
• Samsung Foundry is expected to evaluate the organic bridge substrates for its own advanced packaging offerings, including 2.3D Cube-R based on an organic RDL interposer, per ZDNet.
• Intel’s EMIB package substrates are currently supplied by four companies: Japan’s Ibiden and Shinko Electric, Taiwan’s Unimicron, and Austria’s AT&S, according to ZDNet.

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