Copper and Coated Copper Bonding Wires

Originally developed as low cost bonding wire as an alternative to gold wires, alloyed copper bonding wires have grown to be an advanced technical solution to many applications. They are very reliable, have advanced bondability and are suitable for fine structures.

Copper Bonding Wire

Electronic devices need to perform more in a smaller space with every new generation. Due to this trend, components become smaller and smaller, structures finer and finer. At the same time, the cost pressure leads to the development of cost-effective solutions, such as copper, and the demand for higher reliability raises.

Heraeus copper bonding wires are in many cases a good alternative to expensive gold based solutions. With their ultra-fine diameters (0.6 mils or 15 µm) they are suitable for very small structures with ultra-fine pitch. By adding alloy elements to the bare Cu wire or using CuPd / AFPC core cu wire, our bonding wires show advanced reliability and very good bondability. In many applications copper wire bonding can even provide better performance and reliability than gold wire bonding.

Copper bonding wires are excellent for bonding in a ball / wedge process when using a reduced protective gas atmosphere. Processing is also possible in a wedge / wedge bonding process.

Find your ideal solution from our wide range of products (PdFlash, PdSoft, PdPro, DHF & iCu and MaxSoft). Heraeus specialists with years of experience support you with their technical expertise and application know-how. On-site, they help you with the evaluation and qualification, especially on complex issues and configurations. Tests in our application and technology center enable us to test your adaptations directly in the application. Save time and money with Heraeus as a qualified partner and accelerate your developing process.


Please click  here to view the full list of Heraeus trademarks.

Copper wire – a viable alternative to gold:

In many applications, copper wire bonding can even provide better performance and reliability than gold wire bonding.
Copper bonding wires benefits:

  • Significant cost savings compared to gold bonding materials
  • Excellent thermal and electrical properties
  • Availability in diameters as thin as 0.6 mil, or in excess of 4.0 mils, allows use in a wide range of applications

Your benefits in working with Heraeus:

  • Exactly the right solution for your application, adapted to your needs
  • Advanced support by specialists: Our dedicated and global applications team has extensive experience and expertise to support you and advice for new applications and devices.
  • Accelerated development through testing possibilities in our internal technology center
  • Very fast access to our production sites due to two different factories in safe countries

Excellent mechanical and electrical properties allow our ultra-fine copper wires to be used in a variety of high-end, fine-pitch devices:

Consumer electronics & computing:

  • Smartphones & phones
  • PCs
  • Tablets
  • TVs
  • Servers & systems
  • Imaging devices
  • Wearable electronics

Automotive:

  • Body
  • Safety
  • Infotainment
  • Chassis
  • Powertrain
  • Security

Other transportation:

  • Ships & boats
  • Railway & rolling stock
  • Two-wheelers

Communications:

  • Wireless
  • Wired
  • Satellite
  • NFC

Energy:

  • Generation
  • Transmission & distribution
  • Storage

Industrial

LED

Depending on your application focus we can offer different high reliability bonding wires:

Bare / Alloy Cu wire:

  • Easy deformation (softer than CuPd)
  • Difficult to break Cu2O / CuO layer
  • Need energy to break brittle oxide layer
  • Special alloying improve reliability and bondability compared to bare Cu



Pd coating on bare Cu wire:

  • Protect Surface from oxidation (prevent formation of oxide layer)
  • Improved 2nd bond with Pd at the surface, it make easy to bond
  • Improved reliability with Pd covering the FAB



CuPd + Au flash on bare / alloy Cu:

  • CuPd + Au flash improved surface protection further
  • Wire surface is softer with Au flash
  • 2nd bond robustness is further improved with Pd-Au at the surface.
  • Au is proven very stable as wirebond interconnect solution
  • Alloy Cu core improve reliability and bondability compared to bare Cu core