Glass Wafers Have Several Advantages Over Traditional Silicon Wafers

Author: Chaitali Mahajan

The Glass Wafer market was valued at US$ 295.48 million in 2020 and is projected to reach US$ 575.17 million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2020 to 2028.

A glass wafer is a thin disc that is used as a base for manufacturing integrated circuits and for protection in consumer electronics. The glass wafer is usually made up of quartz, borosilicate glass, or fused silica. These wafers are used in a wide variety of industrial and technical applications. Borosilicate glass wafers provide a higher chemical stability against water or any other type of chemical. The rise in demand for compact and advanced consumer electronic devices is going to drive the growth of the glass wafer market. The increase in the demand for automotive electronics because of electric and hybrid vehicles, will lead to an increase in demand for glass wafers.

Top Key Players:

  • SCHOTT AG
  • AGC Inc.
  • Corning Incorporated
  • Plan Optik AG
  • Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd
  • Samtec, Inc.
  • Bullen
  • Nippon Electric Glass
  • Swift glass
  • Coresix Precision Glass, Inc

There is increase in demand for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) across the world, owing to their applications in communication systems, automotive sensors, as well as portable medical devices. The miniature design of these MEMs makes them a suitable for use in all electronic devices, which has increased the application of MEMs. Glass wafers are mostly used in wafer packaging of sensitive components, owing to their superior functionality, reliability, and capacity to withstand harsh environments. These glass wafers are also used as carrier substrates due to their chemical resistance and thermal stability. The demand for portable medical equipment, which includes patient monitoring devices, has been on the rise during the pandemic, owing to the increased usage and demand by health workers across the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the demand for personal monitoring devices among the consumers.

Application Insights

Based on application, the glass wafer is segmented into CMOS image sensor, integrated circuit (IC) packaging, LED, Microfluidics, FO-WLP, and mems and RF. The CMOS image sensor segment led the market with the largest share in 2020. An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information, which are used to make an image. There are two types of electronic image sensors that are charge-coupled device (CCD) and active-pixel sensor (CMOS sensor). Active pixel sensor is an image sensor in which every pixel sensor has a photodetector. Different types of active pixel sensor include the early NMOS APS and the common one that is the complementary MOS(CMOS) APS, which is known as the CMOS sensor, and is widely used in digital camera technologies as well as in cellphones. CMOS image sensor has various properties such as low power consumption, high integration, and fast IO readout speed due to which it has become one of the most widely used sensors.