June 13, 2011
Tanaka Precious Metals
Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.
Tanaka Precious Metals to Begin Sale of Silver Bonding Wire
Costs Reduced by Approx. 80% when Used in Place of Gold Wire
Performance on Par with Gold Wire Perfect for Mounting in Semiconductors and High-Luminance LEDs
Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Holding company of Tanaka Precious Metals, Head office:
Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Hideya Okamoto) today announced that
Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President
& CEO: Yasushi Kasahara), which boasts the world’s leading share in bonding wire
manufacturing, will begin sales of SEA silver bonding wire on June 14.
Compared to gold wire, which is currently the main type used for semiconductors and light
emitting diodes (LED), noble metal bullion costs can be reduced by approximately 80
percent(*1), and the silver-alloy bonding wire boasts the same level of productivity and
long-term reliability as gold wire. With the current high level of the gold market, this satisfies
high performance requirements at a low cost as a replacement for gold wire.
[Issues faced with copper wire]
There is a growing movement among semiconductor manufacturers to replace gold wire,
which is currently the most widely used bonding wire for connecting lead frames and IC chips,
with copper wire, which enables the cost of noble metal bullion to be reduced by approximately
90 percent.
Efforts are currently being made to address the reduced lifespan that has been deemed to be a
shortcoming of copper wire by providing improved functionality through the use of palladium
surface coating. However, copper wire is characterized by hard balls formed at the tip of
bonding wire, which damage the aluminum electrodes on the IC chip, and this resulted in
concerns about bonding and long-term reliability. Furthermore, the necessity to use a mixture
of oxygen and nitrogen gas, which poses problems with regard to safety and running costs,
and the need for ultrasound imprinting time during adhesion to be longer than for gold wire, has
resulted in the issue of being unable to increase production speed.
SEA silver bonding wire
[Development of Silver Wire with Performance on Par with Gold Wire]
By developing a silver alloy containing optimal metals for resolving such issues, and
establishing manufacturing technology for mass production, Tanaka Denshi Kogyo has
succeeded in the mass production of silver wire (SEA type) that meets performance
requirements while maintaining productivity on par with gold wire, which had been deemed to
be impossible until now. The main features of the product are as follows.
¾
Compared to gold wire, noble metal bullion costs can be reduced by approximately 80 percent
¾
Due to excellent bonding, the wire offers long-term reliability meeting high performance
requirements
- Aluminum electrodes are not damaged because balling is as soft as gold wire
¾
Same level of productivity as gold wire
- Sufficient adhesion under almost the same conditions as gold can be achieved
through the optimization of silver alloy
¾
It is easy to switch from gold wire since it only requires safe and inexpensive nitrogen gas
[Suitable for a Wide Range of Applications such as Semiconductors and LEDs]
The product can be used to replace gold wire mounting in a wide range of products such as
semiconductors and LEDs. Furthermore, in the short wave range (450 to 495nm) that is vital
for lighting LEDs, the product exhibits a high reflectance rate of 80 percent, compared with
gold’s reflectance rate of 50 percent. Mounting the product in LEDs enables the luminosity loss
to be lower than when using gold wire, making it extremely effective for the manufacture of
high-luminance LEDs.
Tanaka Denshi Kogyo estimates that this silver bonding wire will account for around 5 percent
of all bonding wire in 2014, and the company is aiming for 150 million yen in monthly sales of
the product to semiconductor manufacturers and LED manufacturers. Tanaka Denshi Kogyo
will continue to aim to expand sales of gold, silver, copper and aluminum bonding wire products
in domestic and overseas markets, by conducting development to meet customer needs such
as improved electrical conductivity and reduced material costs.
[Exhibits of SEA Silver Bonding Wire]
Tanaka Denshi Kogyo will provide exhibits of SEA silver bonding wire at the following exhibitions.
Technical staff will constantly be on-site in the exhibit booths to respond to interviews.
LED Lighting Taiwan 2011
Date: June 14 (Tue) - 16 (Thu), 2011
Venue: TWTC Nangang Exhibition Center (Taipei, Taiwan)
Booth No.: M309, 311
LED EXPO 2011
Date: June 21 (Tue) - 24 (Fri), 2011
Venue: Korea International Exhibition Center (Seoul, South Korea)
Booth No.: H-68, 72
SEMICON West 2011
Date: July 12 (Tue) - 14 (Thu), 2011
Venue: Moscone Convention Center (San Francisco, California, U.S.A)
Booth No.: South Hall, 913
(*1) When wire diameter is 25μm
■Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Holding company of Tanaka Precious Metals)
Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Hideya Okamoto, President & CEO
Founded: 1885
Incorporated: 1918
Capital: 500 million yen
Employees in consolidated group: 3441 (FY2009)
Net sales of consolidated group: 710.2 billion yen (FY2009)
Main businesses of the group:
Manufacture, sales, import and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others) and
various types of industrial precious metals products. Recycling and refining of precious metals.
Website: http://www.tanaka.co.jp (Tanaka Precious Metals),
http://pro.tanaka.co.jp (Industrial products)
■Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K.
Head office: 22F Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: President & CEO Yasushi Kasahara
Incorporated: 1961
Capital: 1,880 million yen
Employees in consolidated group: 133 (FY2009)
Net sales of consolidated group: 39,98 billion yen (FY2009)
Business: Manufacturing of various bonding wires
Website: http://www.tanaka-bondingwire.com/
About the Tanaka Precious Metals
Established in 1885, the Tanaka Precious Metals has built a diversified range of business
activities focused on the use of precious metals. On April 1, 2010, the group was reorganized
with TANAKA HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. as the holding company (parent company) of the Tanaka
Precious Metals Group. In addition to strengthening corporate governance, the company aims
to improve overall service to customers by ensuring efficient management and dynamic
execution of operations. Tanaka Precious Metals is committed, as a specialist corporate entity,
to providing a diverse range of products through cooperation among group companies.
Tanaka Precious Metals is in the top class in Japan in terms of the volume of precious metal
handled, and for many years the group has developed and stably supplied industrial precious
metals, in addition to providing accessories and savings commodities utilizing precious metals.
As precious metal professionals, the Group will continue to contribute to enriching people’s
lives in the future.
The eight core companies in the Tanaka Precious Metals are as follows.
- Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (pure holding company)
- Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.
- Tanaka Kikinzoku Hanbai K.K.
- Tanaka Kikinzoku International K.K.
- Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K.
- Electroplating Engineers of Japan, Limited
- Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry K.K.
- Tanaka Kikinzoku Business Service K.K.