Since around 2008, the shift from Gold (Au) bonding wire to Copper (Cu) bonding wire has been taking place, full scale, with the aim of reducing costs. When compared with Au, Cu wire presents challenges in reliability and repeatable bonding characteristics in terms of chemical stability, which is required in high reliability applications. Therefore Cu wire adoption in automotive and industrial semiconductors has been limited. Conventionally the market for Cu bonding wires has been divided into two types: bare Cu wires (high purity) and Palladium coated copper (PCC) bonding wires. These wires have yet to satisfy the required characteristics for high reliability products such as industrial and automotive electronics.
A new breed of alternative bonding wires has been developed to offer performance advantages for high reliability applications compared to bare copper wire and PCC wire. Cu alloy wire and Ag alloy wires continue their market introduction for advanced bonding applications, where bare Cu and PCC wires have known limitations.