Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1526666
54 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2024 experience and processes with their American counterparts, so that the developments can go to volume faster. LaRont: Why would a company like Wus welcome that collaboration if it is largely a one-sided gain? American fabricators originally taught most Asian suppliers how to build printed circuit boards (apart from Japan). Wus CEO Chris Wu said he would be happy to collaborate on tech- nological process information. Having quick- turn technologies to evaluate is beneficial for the entire ecosystem. LaRont: Some months back, the semiconduc- tor industry hosted a conference with NASA to discuss replicating the Asian supply chain in the U.S. The meeting also discussed the movement toward ceramics, glass, and silicon substrates. What do you see? Rigid or non-organic substrates present a chal- lenge to plate/laminate the interconnects. You must build up from them. For example, there is no ceramic multi-lamination process. You sinter or fuse the ceramic and build multi- ple processes on top of it. While excellent, it's extremely expensive. Beyond that, how do you get the power into it? So, I agree that ceramic may be good for the desired form factor, but with the data demands of "Training AI," you will need about 18 of these expensive GPUs together, not just one. If you make that struc- ture as a single element, you can't necessarily use it for other applications. How much vol- ume must there be before it's cost-effective? It's unreasonable to think we will somehow get away from copper and thin-film organic buildups in the next 15 years. ough state- of-the-art advanced packaging will be used to fly the next-generation AI drone, I'm referring to industry-level data transfer with enterprise Figure 1: Wus current industry leadership technologies.