An often-overlooked industrial material—high-frequency high-speed PCBs—is becoming a key component driving three major global tech revolutions: AI, robotics, and photovoltaics. In the AI sector, in particular, it's quietly solving a critical bottleneck in computing power.
Inside NVIDIA's latest AI server, the GB300, a material called Quartz Fabric (the third-generation Low Dk glass fiber fabric) is playing a central role. Woven from high-purity quartz fibers (purity ≥99.998%), this base material has a remarkably low dielectric constant of 2.2-2.3, a significant improvement over the 4.2-4.3 of the previous generation. This reduces signal transmission loss by more than 60%.
As AI server power consumption surpasses one kilowatt, materials like Quartz Fabric are what ensure the stable operation of quintillion-level floating-point operations per second, making them a crucial pillar supporting the "heart" of AI computing.
With the launch of the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 server system, AI computing infrastructure has entered a new era. This server, equipped with 72 Blackwell Ultra GPUs, achieves quintillion-level AI computing power in a single rack.
Supporting this performance leap is the glass fiber fabric hidden within the PCB substrate. This material accounts for 35%-40% of the cost of multilayer boards, and its performance directly determines the server's stability under extreme loads.
The NVIDIA GB300 architecture presents three unprecedented challenges for PCBs:
Increased Layer Count: The main board has been upgraded to 28 layers or more.
Material Upgrade: The penetration rate of low-loss materials has reached 45%.
Process Advancement: Laser-drilled hole diameters have been reduced to 50μm.
The core solution to these challenges lies with Quartz Fabric. By using 4N8-grade high-purity quartz fiber, it lowers the dielectric constant (Dk) to 2.2-2.3 and keeps the dielectric loss (Df) at 0.0009, leading to a revolutionary increase in signal transmission speed.
According to industry data, the PCB layer count for GB300 servers has increased to over 16, with a single server using 18-24 meters of Quartz Fabric—five times the amount used in traditional servers. With NVIDIA's upcoming Rubin architecture processors also planning to use Quartz Fabric, 2026 is poised to be a tipping point for the third-generation glass fiber fabric.
However, the supply barriers for Quartz Fabric are extremely high:
Scarce Core Material: The global supply of high-purity quartz sand (purity ≥99.998%) is controlled by only a handful of manufacturers.
Extreme Process Difficulty: Techniques like ultra-fine yarn drawing and micro-impurity control are highly challenging.
Long Certification Cycle: The certification period for downstream clients can take 2-3 years.
Currently, the global Quartz Fabric supply is highly concentrated among a few key players. Companies with core technology, such as Filihua, Honghe Technology, and Sinoma Science & Technology, are well-positioned for a strategic growth period. With a supply-demand gap of 40% in the high-end glass fiber fabric market, these companies are expected to see both increased volume and higher prices.
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