A wire comprising a wire core with a surface, the wire core having a coating layer superimposed on its surface, wherein the wire core itself consists of: (a) pure silver consisting of (a1) silver in an amount in the range of from 99.99 to 100 wt.-% and (a2) further components in a total amount of from 0 to 100 wt.-ppm or (b) doped silver consisting of (b1) silver in an amount in the range of from >99.49 to 99.997 wt.-%, (b2) at least one doping element selected from the group consisting of calcium, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, copper, rhodium and ruthenium in a total amount of from 30 to <5000 wt.-ppm and (b3) further components in a total amount of from 0 to 100 wt.-ppm, or (c) a silver alloy consisting of (c1) silver in an amount in the range of from 89.99 to 99.5 wt.-%, (c2) at least one alloying element selected from the group consisting of nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, copper, rhodium and ruthenium in a total amount in the range of from 0.5 to 10 wt.-% and (c3) further components in a total amount of from 0 to 100 wt.-ppm, or (d) a doped silver alloy consisting of (d1) silver in an amount in the range of from >89.49 to 99.497 wt.-%, (d2) at least one doping element selected from the group consisting of calcium, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, copper, rhodium and ruthenium in a total amount of from 30 to <5000 wt.-ppm, (d3) at least one alloying element selected from the group consisting of nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, copper, rhodium and ruthenium in a total amount in the range of from 0.5 to 10 wt.-% and (d4) further components in a total amount of from 0 to 100 wt.-ppm, wherein the at least one doping element (d2) is other than the at least one alloying element (d3), wherein the individual amount of any further component is less than 30 wt.-ppm, wherein the individual amount of any doping element is at least 30 wt.-ppm, wherein all amounts in wt.-% and wt.-ppm are based on the total weight of the core, and wherein the coating layer is a double-layer comprised of a 1 to 1000 nm inner layer of gold and an adjacent 0.5 to 100 nm thick outer layer of palladium or a double-layer comprised of a 0.5 to 100 nm thick inner layer of palladium and an adjacent >200 to 1000 nm thick outer layer of gold.

Provided are an organic electroluminescence device capable of enhancing reflectance of an anode, thereby resulting in improved light-emitting efficiency and a method of manufacturing the same. An anode (12), a thin film layer for hole injection (13), an insulating layer (14), an organic layer (15) including a luminescent layer (15C) and a cathode (16) including a semi-transparent electrode (16A) are laminated in order on a substrate (11). The anode (12) comprises silver which is a metal with high reflectance or an alloy including silver, and the thin film layer for hole injection (13) comprises chromium oxide or the like. Light generated in the luminescent layer (15C) is multiply reflected between the anode (12) and the semi-transparent electrode (16A) to be emitted from the cathode (16). As the reflectance of the anode (12) is enhanced, the light generated in the luminescent layer (15C) can be efficiently emitted. An alloy comprised in the anode (12) preferably includes silver, palladium and copper, and a silver content is preferably 50% by mass or over.

Provided are an organic electroluminescence device capable of enhancing reflectance of an anode, thereby resulting in improved light-emitting efficiency and a method of manufacturing the same. An anode (12), a thin film layer for hole injection (13), an insulating layer (14), an organic layer (15) including a luminescent layer (15C) and a cathode (16) including a semi-transparent electrode (16A) are laminated in order on a substrate (11). The anode (12) comprises silver which is a metal with high reflectance or an alloy including silver, and the thin film layer for hole injection (13) comprises chromium oxide or the like. Light generated in the luminescent layer (15C) is multiply reflected between the anode (12) and the semi-transparent electrode (16A) to be emitted from the cathode (16). As the reflectance of the anode (12) is enhanced, the light generated in the luminescent layer (15C) can be efficiently emitted. An alloy comprised in the anode (12) preferably includes silver, palladium and copper, and a silver content is preferably 50% by mass or over.

An object of the present invention is to provide an Ag alloy bonding wire for a semiconductor device capable of extending the high-temperature life of a wire, reducing chip damage during ball bonding, and improving characteristics such as ball bonding strength in applications of on-vehicle memory devices. The Ag alloy bonding wire for a semiconductor device according to the present invention contains one or more of In and Ga for a total of 110 at ppm or more and less than 500 at ppm, and one or more of Pd and Pt for a total of 150 at ppm or more and less than 12,000 at ppm, and a balance being made up of Ag and unavoidable impurities.

An object of the present invention is to provide an Ag alloy bonding wire for a semiconductor device capable of extending the high-temperature life of a wire, reducing chip damage during ball bonding, and improving characteristics such as ball bonding strength in applications of on-vehicle memory devices. The Ag alloy bonding wire for a semiconductor device according to the present invention contains one or more of In and Ga for a total of 110 at ppm or more and less than 500 at ppm, and one or more of Pd and Pt for a total of 150 at ppm or more and less than 12,000 at ppm, and a balance being made up of Ag and unavoidable impurities.

A method suitable for mass production of nanoparticles with a uniform particle diameter is provided. It is an object to provide a powder of the nanoparticle obtained by this method, a dispersion containing the nanoparticles, and a paste containing the nanoparticles. There is provided a method for manufacturing silver particles including the step of reducing silver in a silver solution containing a protective agent composed of an organic material and a copper component in an amount of 1 to 1,000 ppm relative to the amount of silver to obtain particles having an average particle diameter (D.sub.TEM) of 5 to 100 nm as measured using a transmission electron microscope.

A method suitable for mass production of nanoparticles with a uniform particle diameter is provided. It is an object to provide a powder of the nanoparticle obtained by this method, a dispersion containing the nanoparticles, and a paste containing the nanoparticles. There is provided a method for manufacturing silver particles including the step of reducing silver in a silver solution containing a protective agent composed of an organic material and a copper component in an amount of 1 to 1,000 ppm relative to the amount of silver to obtain particles having an average particle diameter (D.sub.TEM) of 5 to 100 nm as measured using a transmission electron microscope.

A copper alloy sheet or strip for a lead frame of LED includes specific amounts of Fe, P, Zn, and Sn with the remainder being Cu and unavoidable impurities. A surface roughness thereof is less than 0.06 μm in terms of arithmetic average roughness Ra and is less than 0.5 μm in terms of ten-point average roughness Rz.sub.JIS. The number of groove-shaped recesses present on the surface, each having a length of 5 μm or more and a depth of 0.25 μm or more, is 2 or less in a range of a square of 200 μm×200 μm with a pair of its sides running in transverse to a rolling direction. A thickness of a work affected layer formed of fine grains on the surface is 0.5 μm or less.

Provided is a bonding wire capable of reducing the occurrence of defective loops. The bonding wire includes: a core material which contains more than 50 mol % of a metal M; an intermediate layer which is formed over the surface of the core material and made of Ni, Pd, the metal M, and unavoidable impurities, and in which the concentration of the Ni is 15 to 80 mol %; and a coating layer formed over the intermediate layer and made of Ni, Pd and unavoidable impurities. The concentration of the Pd in the coating layer is 50 to 100 mol %. The metal M is Cu or Ag, and the concentration of Ni in the coating layer is lower than the concentration of Ni in the intermediate layer.

Provided is a bonding wire capable of reducing the occurrence of defective loops. The bonding wire includes: a core material which contains more than 50 mol % of a metal M; an intermediate layer which is formed over the surface of the core material and made of Ni, Pd, the metal M, and unavoidable impurities, and in which the concentration of the Ni is 15 to 80 mol %; and a coating layer formed over the intermediate layer and made of Ni, Pd and unavoidable impurities. The concentration of the Pd in the coating layer is 50 to 100 mol %. The metal M is Cu or Ag, and the concentration of Ni in the coating layer is lower than the concentration of Ni in the intermediate layer.