Patent ID: 7880300

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor chip, the semiconductor chip comprising: a bonding wire; and a metal coating structure on an active upper side of the semiconductor chip, the metal coating structure comprising: precious-metal-containing bonding areas on the upper side of the semiconductor chip, and a plurality of metal layers arranged one on top of the other and comprising: a copper-containing lower metal layer forming interconnects and contact terminal areas, a central metal layer comprising at least one of nickel and nickel phosphide, covering the lower metal layer, and an upper metal layer comprising a precious metal, covering at least the bonding areas and, the bonding wire being attached to the upper metal layer, the upper metal layer having a total thickness d o such that 0.1 μm≦d o ≦1.0 μm, wherein the central metal layer has a rough interface with respect to the upper metal layer such that an average roughness height t m of the central metal layer is 0.05 μm≦t m ≦1.00 μm.