SEOUL, South Korea, April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation ("MagnaChip Semiconductor") (NYSE: MX), a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products, today announced that it now offers cost competitive and state of the art copper wire bonding technology for the specialized needs of foundry customers.  

Copper bonding employs copper wires instead of gold for interconnection and has become one of the most preferred methods to reduce overall package cost for semiconductor applications as the price of gold continues to rise.

Copper wire offers significant advantages over gold wire. First, copper is three to five times less costly than gold. Substituting gold with copper can achieve a packaging cost savings of about 20% to 30%.  Copper wire is about 30% more conductive than gold, making it a superior electrical conductor. Copper also has about 25% higher thermal conductivity. In addition, because of copper's lower tendency to form intermetallic compounds, copper bonds can offer higher reliability at elevated temperatures than gold bonds.

One of the major challenges of copper wire bonding has been the significant mechanical stress imposed on bonding pads, which often resulted in damage to silicon wafers in the form of cracks beneath the pads. To resolve this issue, MagnaChip worked with the major packaging companies, including Amkor, to develop and qualify an enhanced silicon bonding process.

TJ Lee, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Corporate Engineering, commented, "We are very pleased to announce the offering of our cost competitive copper wire bonding solutions to meet the increasing demand for a gold wire alternative. Foundry customers can now migrate to MagnaChip's copper wire bonding technology and recognize a direct 20% to 30% cost savings. It is our goal to provide innovative and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for our customers."

About MagnaChip Semiconductor

Headquartered in South Korea, MagnaChip Semiconductor is a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products for high volume consumer applications. MagnaChip Semiconductor believes it has one of the broadest and deepest range of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platforms in the industry, supported by its 30-year operating history, large portfolio of registered and pending patents and extensive engineering and manufacturing process expertise.

SOURCE MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation