IBM's Semiconductor Breakthrough New York - Copper Development Association President Robert M. Payne today lauded IBM's milestone accomplishment of using copper instead of aluminum for the circuitry in silicon chips. This is the last link in a now unbroken copper chain comprising the electronic data path between user and computer. From external cables and connectors to bus ways to printed circuit boards, sockets and lead frames, it's all copper.
Copper is the benchmark for electrical and thermal conductivity.
Its use means greater efficiency from smaller components because of lower operating voltages, cooler running, and shorter and therefore faster paths for electron flow. Payne pointed out that these are the same characteristics that make copper the proper choice for other data and telecommunications applications, electrical wiring, air conditioners and even rocket engines. The Smart Choice. CDA is the information, education and technical development arm of the copper, brass and bronze industry in the United States. Plumbing Tube , and general information about the uses of copper can be found at The Copper Page .