Copper & Alloys

~kɒpə~ Est. 9000 BC

Periodic Table

• Position 29
• Symbol Cu
• Atomic weight 63.546 g
Crystalline Structure
• FCC – Face Centered Cubic
Copper Mining
Copper Usage

• Building industry – 47%

• Electronic products - 23%
• Transportation - 10%
• Consumer products - 11%
• Industrial machinery - 9%
Copper Alloys

• pure coppers
• High copper alloys
• Brasses
• bronzes
Common Applications:
• Drawn into Wires
Common Applications:
Drawn into Tubing
• Copper Tubing is commonly used for supply
of hot and cold tap water and as a refrigerant
line in HVAC Systems.
• Life expectancy of 280 years
• Recently being replaced by Polycop plastic
piping due to theft and cost.
• Drawn using a fixed mandrel / Floating
mandrel
Common Applications:
Copper fixings and connectors
• Allows for modular piping
networks
• Easier than Soldering
Common Applications:
Copper Coins
• Earliest uses of copper Est 9000 BC
• Holds Image allowing for intricate details
Common Applications:
Heat Exchangers
Common Applications:
Poison
• Copper Sulphate
Pesticide, herbicide, fungicide added to
fertilizer.
• Copper Carbonate
Fungicide
COMMON APPLICATIONS
LEAD FRAMES & INTERCONNECTION WIRES
 COMPOSITION OF COPPER ALLOY LEAD
FRAME
Copper alloy Designation Nominal composition, net %
Cu-Fe C19400 2.35Fe-0.03P-0.12Zn
C19500 1.5Fe-0.8Co-0.05P-0.6Sn
C19700 0.6Fe-0.2P-0.04Mg
C19210 0.10Fe-0.034P
Cu-Cr CCZ 0.55Cr-0.25Zr
EFTEC 0.3Cr-0.25Sn-0.2Zn
Cu-Ni-Si C7025 3.0Ni-0.65Si-0.15Mg
KLF-125 3.2Ni-0.7Si-1.25Sn-0.3Zn
C19010 1.0Ni-0.2si-0.03P
Cu-Sn C50715 2Sn-0.1Fe-0.03P
C50710 2Sn-0.2Ni-0.05P
Other C15100 0.1Zr
C15500 0.11Mg-0.06P

Table 1: Composition of alloys

• The most widely used copper alloys have high electrical and thermal
conductivity, high CTE, lower strength, lower cost, and lower chemical stability
than that of nickel-iron
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY
Thank You.
 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
• THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY GENERALLY RANGES FROM 120 -400 W/mK
 CHEMICAL STABILITY
OXIDATION
• Oxidation causes delamination between the lead frames and then
pads
• Poor adhesion
Example of copper oxidation:
INTERCONECTION WIRES
ADVANTAGES OF COPPER OVER GOLD

• Heat treated copper exhibits tensile strengths and elongation

charatcersitics equal to or even greater than Gold.

• Pulling strength of copper allows for smaller diameters and therefore

small pads.
DISADVANTAGES OF CHOOSING
COPPER
• Copper wire bonding requires a forming gas that is difficult to
optimize

• Copper oxidation causes corrosion cracks which decreases interfacial

strength

• Copper has a higher melting point and therefore requires higher

energy than Gold when bonding to the pads.