Intel patent outlines MicroLED integration inside CPU packages using glass substrates and TGVs

Intel has secured a U.S. patent describing how MicroLEDs could be embedded directly inside a CPU package, with glass substrates and through-glass vias, or TGVs, serving as the key interconnect structure. According to Tom’s Hardware, the patent was filed in 2022 and proposes linking MicroLEDs to semiconductor dies either directly or through nanowires, while power and signals are routed through the glass substrate. The concept could allow processors to display text or status indicators on-package, support simple diagnostic signaling, or enable cosmetic lighting effects. The filing also ties into broader packaging trends around glass-core substrates and co-packaged optics, or CPO. Intel has been developing glass substrate technology since the early 2010s, and this year showed related engineering samples at NEPCON Japan and a 24-layer glass core panel at ECTC. The report notes that market attention is less on decorative lighting and more on whether the packaging approach could eventually support optical integration inside advanced chip packages. Still, the patent does not describe optical interconnects or high-speed optical communications, and there is no indication that Intel will commercialize the design in a processor product.