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SEPTEMBER 2026 I I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE 55 with whom we have tried to collaborate on test- ing their material, but it's clear that ABF is still the primary player. Can you explain how your embedded trace pro- cess goes hand-in-hand with the demand for sub- strates on glass? Our embedded trace process meets the need for very dense circuits and novel advanced packaging solutions. We have several customers that want to test with us. The challenge is that our lab's ex- posure system is limited to a six-micron line-and- space, we do not have AOI, and we have a small photoresist laminator. We are not a PCB or sub- strate manufacturer, so some of this testing cannot be done solely in our lab, and you can't have the panels go back and forth with customers. It's not good for a technology that requires a highly con- trolled, clean environment. But we are in active testing with a Japanese customer. Some of these boards have four million microvias per layer, so you can imagine the time required in laser drilling. This can be processed much more quickly with plasma etching. The market is not quite ready yet, but we have achieved good performance with different materials. We currently have three different customer projects in process. In your opinion, what does the global demand look like? Global demand is currently focused on PCBs for AI ap- plications, mainly AI server boards. This type of board requires inner layers and some build-up layers, which demand an mSAP process. A few years ago, there was a lot of discussion about mSAP in the U.S. But other than Calumet and GreenSource, nothing has re- ally happened in the U.S., which was surprising. Those companies, along with TTM, received gov- ernment assistance to gain private investment, which helped add such processes to their fabs. What about for smaller fabricators? They have not been able to get the assistance, and that's a problem. It's too bad, because the engi- neering expertise is still huge in the U.S. and, right now, still relevant. It is unfortunate that investment has not kept up with technology. It is the same in Europe, where, other than AT&S, the investment tends to be in the traditional tools and standard technologies. In Asia, the main investments are fo- cused on high tech. There is high demand in Asia. An important customer in China just purchased 55 lines for high-volume manufacturing, for exam- ple. Theoretically, we should be seeing this in the U.S. as well, given the growing need for AI server board capacity. We will continue to watch that mar- ket with interest. Laurent, thank you. Great to talk with you, Marcy. I-CONNECT007 " Some of these boards have four million microvias per layer, so you can imagine the time required in laser drilling. This can be processed much more quickly with plasma etching."