July 22, 2011 — Materials supplier Nippon Steel Material Co. Ltd. (NSMAT) and its semiconductor packaging materials subsidiary Nippon Micrometal Corporation (NMC) licensed their single-layer-palladium (Pd) coated copper (Cu) bonding wire to Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K., bonding wire manufacturer and traditionally a competitor.
The copper bonding wire, EX1, was developed by Nippon Steel Corporation as an alternative to gold in high-density large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits. The companies report that the wire bonds offer high reliability at one-fifth the cost of gold packaging, thanks to a unique structural design. It also offers high electrical conductivity, more than 20% higher than gold wire.
EX1 went into mass production in 2009 and claims more than 80% of the copper bonding wire market share. It has been adopted by packaging companies globally, with a large presence in Taiwan.
Nippon Steel has filed more than 80 patents on copper wire for semiconductor packaging. Several of the EX1 patents are now being licensed to Tanaka, a competitor, to ensure consistent global supply of the material, says Nippon Steel. NMC additionally increased production of the wire in its Japan and Phillipines facilities, upping output from 150k to 250k km/month.
The company also released an improved Pd monolayer Cu wire, EX1p, that enhances bonding to the die and leadframe, and allows increased wire-bonding speed. EX1p is not included in the license agreement with Tanaka Denshi Kogyo.
Learn more at http://www.nsc.co.jp/nsmat/english/index.html
More on copper wire bonding:
- STATS ChipPAC invests in Cu wire bonding
- K&S pushes Cu wire transition
- MagnaChip Semiconductor adds Cu wire bonding
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