Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/494320
April 2015 • The PCB Design Magazine 25 THE FUTURE oF NICkEL IN NICkEL/PALLADIUM/GoLD FINAL FINISHES continues feature Figure 6: The impact of low Ni on demarcation lines. jor driver in this field. Pure copper wire bond- ing is one candidate for cost reduction, but this can result in other complications like compo- nent and equipment damage due to the forces and energy required. Gold, on the other hand, is the preferred and established medium, but recent exploration into silver wire bonding is proving potentially viable. The high potential for silver as a technical replacement for gold is the comparable softness of the metals. Fig - ure 1 demonstrates that ENEPIG and EPAG are both able to deliver confidence in silver wire bondability. Additional to the technical simi- larities, silver also complies, in some way, to cost saving. EPAG exhibits a wide working window with good performance indicators for silver wire bonding. Well known OEMs are also champion- ing this direction for wire bonding. The results for Cu wire bonding are also acceptable. A Look into the Future The roadmaps, available in the public do- main, according to the following OEMs, IPC, iNEMI, ITRS and Jisso, predict fine-line technol- ogy. This, by definition, has a knock on impact to pitch miniaturization. This applies equally to organic and inorganic substrates. As part of flip-chip bonding technology, the tried and tested reflow bonding is limited with