Why gold is extensively used as recombination agent by the manufacturers of semiconductor device?
Gold, symbol Au, is a soft metallic element that is bright yellowish in color. A good conductor of heat and electricity, it is also the most malleable and ductile of all metals. Gold is used in many aspects of semiconductor manufacturing, particularly in the assembly or packaging processes. Its most widespread use is in wirebonding. Because of gold’s excellent conductivity and ductility, it is extensively used in making wires for the connection of the integrated circuit to the leads of the package. Aside from manufacturability, the ductility of gold wires offers one more advantage when used in plastic-encapsulated devices, i.e., it makes the wires resistant to wire breaking during the encapsulation process. Gold is also used as die attach material for the eutectic die attach process, which is commonly used in old hermetic assembly processes. Gold is also used to cover the die cavity and bonding posts of ceramic packages to protect these from chemical degradation.
