Continuous casting technology specialists have just completed the commissioning of a new horizontal continuous casting machine for the production of gold bonding wire in PR China.
Continuous casting technology specialists, Rautomead, of Dundee, Scotland, UK, have just completed the commissioning of a new horizontal continuous casting machine for the production of gold bonding wire for Yantai Zhaojin Kanfort Precious Metals Co in Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province, PR China. Gold bonding wire is used for interconnection in semiconductor packaging and, as packaging technology continues to advance, the requirement for good and reliable interconnecting materials becomes ever more demanding. In particular, the purity of the gold material and the micro texture and microstructure of the drawn wire become critical factors influencing the risk and incidence of packaging failures.

Rautomead graphite furnace continuous casting technology has been used by leading producers of gold bonding wire in the USA, Korea and Taiwan for many years on account of its metallurgical cleanliness and robust design.

The model supplied by Rautomead to Yantai Zhaojin Kanfort Precious Metals Co is an RM 030 integrated melting and casting machine.

The graphite crucible holds a maximum of 19kg of molten gold or gold alloy.

Materials are charged by hand and allowed to melt under an argon inert gas atmosphere.

The material is cast out as a 7mm diameter rod.

Casting speed is 60 -100mm/min, according to material specification and surface finish requirement.

A special feature of this machine is a quartz sight glass over the crucible, to allow the operator easily to judge the molten metal level and the gas bubbling condition during operation.