GlobalFoundries to produce silicon interposers for TSMC's CoWoS in the US — Five-year agreement valued at $2 billion

GlobalFoundries and TSMC have signed a five-year, $2 billion agreement to produce silicon interposers for TSMC's CoWoS advanced packaging technology in the United States. This manufacturing deal will provide a domestic source of these components, allowing TSMC's clients to market their products as entirely made and packaged in America. Volume production is expected to commence in the first half of 2028.

Ed Kaste, GlobalFoundries' senior vice president of CMOS Business, stated that the partnership aims to create a secure and scalable source of critical advanced-packaging elements, thus accelerating innovation and strengthening the semiconductor supply chain. The agreement entails GlobalFoundries expanding its manufacturing capacity at its facility in Malta, NY, to create silicon interposers for TSMC's CoWoS-S packaging ecosystem.

These interposers, which are custom silicon pieces, facilitate high-density connections between logic chiplets and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacks, enabling the creation of intricate multi-die processors for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.

The specific production capacity to be installed is not disclosed, but the agreement allows for future expansion based on demand. Silicon interposers for TSMC's CoWoS-S technology are tailored to individual processor designs, with configurations depending on the arrangement, dimensions, placement, and interconnections of logic chiplets and HBM stacks.

These interposers must also meet the power-delivery requirements of specific processors, including power distribution networks and embedded deep trench capacitors (DTC). Their designs must account for signal integrity, power integrity, and thermal characteristics. Given the potential size of large interposers, they may exceed maximum lithographic reticle size and necessitate stitching.

GlobalFoundries will not be a TSMC supplier but rather a subcontractor manufacturing customer-specific interposer designs. The companies need to ensure compatibility between their design rules, manufacturing processes, and qualification procedures to enable successful integration of GF-produced interposers into TSMC's CoWoS packaging flows.

Ownership and protection of intellectual property may also need to be addressed, as interposer layouts could incorporate technologies and production methods unique to TSMC and its customers.

By transferring some interposer production to GlobalFoundries, TSMC could conserve some of its own manufacturing resources and increase the availability of essential components for advanced packaging. The agreement represents an opportunity for GlobalFoundries to participate in the manufacturing of advanced AI processors without producing the leading-edge logic dies. However, it remains to be seen whether GlobalFoundries will also engage in TSMC's CoWoS-L supply chain.