Advancing semiconductors for the age of AI: SCHOTT reaches a strategic milestone with the founding of a specialized division

As we enter the age of generative AI, the semiconductor industry is experiencing unprecedented demand for advanced and intensive computing. Next-generation chips call for more stringent requirements for the material providers regarding performance, thermal management, and electrical isolation, as well as finding solutions to increasing energy consumption.

Glass can play a critical role in future semiconductor architecture concepts and performance from wafer to system. Recently, market leaders have been developing glass-based breakthrough innovations to advance Moore’s Law. Since very early on, SCHOTT has been in exchange with leading industry players and initiated an action plan in 2023. Now, SCHOTT has reached a strategic milestone by successfully forming a specialized division.

Dr. Christian Leirer, an industry expert with 15 years of experience in semiconductors will lead the new organization with his deep understanding of the industries’ needs and challenges.

The organization has established dedicated processes to provide rapid sampling to meet the need for speed. The team is already working on tailor-made glass substrates for key players that will lead the way for the future.

“While we were working to establish the specialized division within the existing SCHOTT structures, the team established a close exchange with industry leaders who were searching for breakthroughs in material science,” Dr. Leirer said. “Now, as we’re moving forward in an even more focused way, we will push hard to broaden our customer base through constant exchange, counseling, and quick adoption of specs and production environments. Together, we aim to fuel the future of semiconductors with specialty glass.”

Beyond IC packaging: A Catalyst for future vision

SCHOTT offers an extensive portfolio of specialty glass solutions that advance the critical infrastructure within the semiconductor value chain. For instance, leading lithography machines, some of the most complex engineering marvels ever made by humanity, rely on SCHOTT’s high-quality flexible light guides and ZERODUR® glass-ceramic to achieve maximum precision. As these lithography machines are used in all global chip foundries and IDMs, nearly all computer chips today encounter specialty glass from SCHOTT.

Unmatched partner to achieve the seemingly impossible

The company’s founder Otto Schott is known as the inventor of specialty glass. Today, SCHOTT offers a wide selection of advanced materials, including specialty glass and glass-ceramics. With headquarters in Germany and a global production network, SCHOTT provides unparalleled manufacturing expertise to support partners in developing industry-leading products and solutions. For example, ultra-thin and flexible glass from SCHOTT (SCHOTT UTG®) is enabling the world’s most advanced foldable phones; CERAN® cooktops have changed kitchens around the world in the home appliances industry; and ZERODUR® glass-ceramics allows the world’s largest telescopes to obtain unprecedented views into distant skies. Now, with the specialized division in place, SCHOTT aims to change data communications by turbocharging the most advanced semiconductors in the world.