SPOKANE, WA -- Honeywell Electronic Materials will more than double its refining and casting capacity for high-purity copper and tin over the next 12 months at its facility here in response to rising demand in the semiconductor industry.

Demand for the copper material has been steadily growing as new advanced chip designs continue to require high-purity copper. Additional industry growth has come as memory manufacturers transition from aluminum to copper. The use of copper and tin for advanced chip packaging applications is similarly on the rise.

"We are committed to meeting the growing needs of the industry for advanced, high-purity metals," said Mike Norton, product line director for Honeywell Electronic Materials' Advanced Metals business. "We are doing that by making the supply chain and technology investments necessary to meet industry requirements and support our customers, whether they are working on leading-edge technology nodes or within the more mature spaces within the semiconductor industry."

The first phase of the capacity expansion will be complete in the first quarter of next year, while the second phase is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. The company did not disclose the actual capacity volumes.

One of the most significant benefits of using copper in ICs is its ability to provide a lower resistivity than aluminum, which has been widely used for interconnects in the industry. Lower resistivity translates to faster chip speeds, which in turn delivers increased device performance. Copper has also been embraced for chip packaging applications due to the rapidly increasing costs associated with gold, the current industry standard.

Tin has been used increasingly as an alternative to lead for advanced chip packaging applications, providing an option for customers who must comply with regulations limiting lead-based materials.

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