A noble metal-coated silver bonding wire suppresses corrosion at the bonding interface under severe conditions of high temperature and high humidity, and the noble metal-coated silver bonding wire can be ball-bonded in the air. The noble metal-coated silver wire for ball bonding is a noble metal-coated silver wire including a noble metal coating layer on a core material made of pure silver or a silver alloy, wherein the wire contains at least one sulfur group element, the noble metal coating layer includes a palladium intermediate layer and a gold skin layer, the palladium content relative to the entire wire is 0.01 mass % or more and 5.0 mass % or less, the gold content relative to the entire wire is 1.0 mass % or more and 6.0 mass % or less, and the sulfur group element content relative to the entire wire is 0.1 mass ppm or more and 100 mass ppm or less.

A noble metal-coated silver bonding wire suppresses corrosion at the bonding interface under severe conditions of high temperature and high humidity, and the noble metal-coated silver bonding wire can be ball-bonded in the air. The noble metal-coated silver wire for ball bonding is a noble metal-coated silver wire including a noble metal coating layer on a core material made of pure silver or a silver alloy, wherein the wire contains at least one sulfur group element, the noble metal coating layer includes a palladium intermediate layer and a gold skin layer, the palladium content relative to the entire wire is 0.01 mass % or more and 5.0 mass % or less, the gold content relative to the entire wire is 1.0 mass % or more and 6.0 mass % or less, and the sulfur group element content relative to the entire wire is 0.1 mass ppm or more and 100 mass ppm or less.

The bonding wire being a Pd-coated copper bonding wire includes: a copper core material; and a Pd layer and containing a sulfur group element, in which with respect to the total of copper, Pd, and the sulfur group element, a concentration of Pd is 1.0 mass % to 4.0 mass % and a total concentration of the sulfur group element is 50 mass ppm or less, and a concentration of S is 5 mass ppm to 2 mass ppm, a concentration of Se is 5 mass ppm to 20 mass ppm, or a concentration of Te is 15 mass ppm to 50 mass ppm or less. A wire bonding structure includes a Pd-concentrated region with the concentration of Pd being 2.0 mass % or more relative to the total of Al, copper, and Pd near a bonding surface of an Al-containing electrode of a semiconductor chip and a ball bonding portion.

There is provided a palladium-coated copper bonding wire that does not cause a shrinkage cavity during first bonding, has high bonding reliability, and is capable of maintaining excellent bonding reliability for a long period of time even in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. A palladium-coated copper bonding wire in which a concentration of palladium is 1.0 mass % or more and 4.0 mass % or less relative to the total of copper, palladium, and a sulfur group element, a total concentration of the sulfur group element is 50 mass ppm or less, and a concentration of sulfur is 5 mass ppm or more and 12 mass ppm or less, a concentration of selenium is 5 mass ppm or more and 20 mass ppm or less, or a concentration of tellurium is 15 mass ppm or more and 50 mass ppm or less, and the palladium-coated copper bonding wire including a palladium-concentrated region with the average concentration of palladium of 6.5 atom % or more and 30.0 atom % or less relative to the total of copper and palladium within a range from a surface of a tip portion of a free air ball formed at a tip of the wire to 5.0 nm or more and 100.0 nm or less.

A noble metal-coated silver bonding wire suppresses corrosion at the bonding interface under severe conditions of high temperature and high humidity, and the noble metal-coated silver bonding wire can be ball-bonded in the air. The noble metal-coated silver wire for ball bonding is a noble metal-coated silver wire including a noble metal coating layer on a core material made of pure silver or a silver alloy, wherein the wire contains at least one sulfur group element, the noble metal coating layer includes a palladium intermediate layer and a gold skin layer, the palladium content relative to the entire wire is 0.01 mass % or more and 5.0 mass % or less, the gold content relative to the entire wire is 1.0 mass % or more and 6.0 mass % or less, and the sulfur group element content relative to the entire wire is 0.1 mass ppm or more and 100 mass ppm or less.

A noble metal-coated silver bonding wire suppresses corrosion at the bonding interface under severe conditions of high temperature and high humidity, and the noble metal-coated silver bonding wire can be ball-bonded in the air. The noble metal-coated silver wire for ball bonding is a noble metal-coated silver wire including a noble metal coating layer on a core material made of pure silver or a silver alloy, wherein the wire contains at least one sulfur group element, the noble metal coating layer includes a palladium intermediate layer and a gold skin layer, the palladium content relative to the entire wire is 0.01 mass % or more and 5.0 mass % or less, the gold content relative to the entire wire is 1.0 mass % or more and 6.0 mass % or less, and the sulfur group element content relative to the entire wire is 0.1 mass ppm or more and 100 mass ppm or less.

The bonding wire being a Pd-coated copper bonding wire includes: a copper core material; and a Pd layer and containing a sulfur group element, in which with respect to the total of copper, Pd, and the sulfur group element, a concentration of Pd is 1.0 mass % to 4.0 mass % and a total concentration of the sulfur group element is 50 mass ppm or less, and a concentration of S is 5 mass ppm to 2 mass ppm, a concentration of Se is 5 mass ppm to 20 mass ppm, or a concentration of Te is 15 mass ppm to 50 mass ppm or less. A wire bonding structure includes a Pd-concentrated region with the concentration of Pd being 2.0 mass % or more relative to the total of Al, copper, and Pd near a bonding surface of an Al-containing electrode of a semiconductor chip and a ball bonding portion.

There is provided a palladium-coated copper bonding wire that does not cause a shrinkage cavity during first bonding, has high bonding reliability, and is capable of maintaining excellent bonding reliability for a long period of time even in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. A palladium-coated copper bonding wire in which a concentration of palladium is 1.0 mass % or more and 4.0 mass % or less relative to the total of copper, palladium, and a sulfur group element, a total concentration of the sulfur group element is 50 mass ppm or less, and a concentration of sulfur is 5 mass ppm or more and 12 mass ppm or less, a concentration of selenium is 5 mass ppm or more and 20 mass ppm or less, or a concentration of tellurium is 15 mass ppm or more and 50 mass ppm or less, and the palladium-coated copper bonding wire including a palladium-concentrated region with the average concentration of palladium of 6.5 atom % or more and 30.0 atom % or less relative to the total of copper and palladium within a range from a surface of a tip portion of a free air ball formed at a tip of the wire to 5.0 nm or more and 100.0 nm or less.

A wire, preferably a bonding wire for bonding in microelectronics, contains a copper core with a surface and coating layer containing aluminum superimposed over the surface of the copper core. The ratio of the thickness of the coating layer to the diameter of the copper core is from 0.05 to 0.2 m. The wire has a diameter in the range of from 100 m to 600 m and specified standard deviations of the diameter of the copper core and of the thickness of the coating layer. The invention further relates to a process for making a wire, to a wire obtained by the process, to an electric device containing at least two elements and the wire, to a propelled device containing the electric device, and to a process of connecting two elements through the wire by wedge bonding.