The investigation of some properties of copper alloys for lead frame

Lead frames are one of the most important component parts of discrete and IC devices. Due to their good electrical conductivity and cost, copper alloys for lead frames are widely used in IC packages. In this paper, some properties of copper alloys for lead frames, such as etching properties, etc, are researched. The results showed that because of the different etching mechanisms and alloy elements added to the copper alloy, the etching rates of copper alloys in low concentration ferric chloride are much higher than those of the same alloys in higher concentrations. The influence of the dimensions of eight different copper alloys to the etching properties are compared. The variety of this factor is displayed in the coordinate system. Copper solderability is also investigated in the paper.