The expert who participated in this call is a Samsung packaging engineer specializing in HBM hybrid bonding research and development.
With experience spanning equipment, process development, and R&D, he brings a broad perspective across the packaging stack and shared a number of practical insights throughout this discussion.
The Starting Question
If HBM stacks move to eight or even four layers, will that delay the adoption of hybrid bonding? This was one of the questions I wanted to explore in this expert call.
In this conversation, we discussed hybrid bonding technology from several angles, with a particular focus on HBM.
We covered when hybrid bonding is likely to be adopted in HBM, what is currently holding back the transition, what needs to change in terms of process equipment, how large the current technology gap is between Samsung and SK hynix in HBM hybrid bonding, and why Besi has become one of the most closely watched hybrid bonding equipment suppliers.
The expert views 2026 to 2030 as a key transition period for HBM hybrid bonding and believes it will ultimately become an essential technology. We go through the technical details and practical challenges behind that transition in the report below.
Key Takeaways
The number of layers alone does not determine the need for hybrid bonding.
The expert identified height and thermal performance as the main drivers for HBM today, while describing a separate adoption condition for products that require finer pitch.
Maturity in bonding a single layer is not the same as readiness to produce multilayer stacks.
Beyond the economics of the existing process, the expert highlighted the challenge of maintaining quality across a combination of process steps.
Running one tool well and bringing multiple tools into consistent operation are different tasks.
In addition to managing contamination during repeated operation, engineers have to identify and resolve differences between the tools they install.
Besi’s strength lies in improvements accumulated through actual production experience.
The expert distinguished that experience in logic bonding from the final equipment selection for multilayer HBM.
Current challenges should be considered alongside the longer term transition.
The expert personally sees 2026 to 2030 as an important transition period and described improvements to existing TCB processes and preparation for hybrid bonding as parallel efforts.
Editorial Note
The questions and answers have been organized by topic from the original transcript. “Damnang’s Commentary” presents the editor’s interpretation of the interview. The expert’s explanations and outlook reflect his personal views at the time of the conversation, not the company’s official position. Generative AI assisted with language editing and organization.
Hybrid Bonding, Fully Dissected
If you had to name the single hottest keyword in the semiconductor industry right now, I’d say hybrid bonding without hesitation.