Ruthenium: The Rare Metal That Could Dethrone Copper and Change the Chip Industry!

Written by Bruno Teles

Published on 05/02/2025 at 14:15

O rutênio vem principalmente da mineração de platina e níquel, já que ele é um subproduto desses metais. As maiores reservas estão na África do Sul, Rússia, Zimbábue, Canadá e EUA.

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With High Conductivity and Corrosion Resistance, Ruthenium Emerges as the Successor to Copper in Chip Manufacturing. But It Has a Problem (And a Big One!): It Is Extremely Rare, Representing Just 0.0000002% of the Earth’s Crust. Will This Be the New Gold of Technology?

For a long time, copper has been the absolute king of semiconductors. It is present in almost all chips, ensuring that the connections between transistors work properly. But, like any royalty, it seems that its reign may be numbered with the arrival of ruthenium.

Ruthenium has everything it takes to replace copper, as it conducts electricity just as well and also has incredible corrosion resistance. There’s one catch, though: it is extremely rare. And that could complicate its large-scale adoption significantly.

The Crucial Role of Copper in the Semiconductor Industry

Copper was not chosen by chance. It is excellent for conducting electricity and heat, easy to shape, and also resists corrosion well. All of this made it one of the most important materials in semiconductor manufacturing.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Why Is Ruthenium Catching Attention as a Substitute for Copper?

Looking at the characteristics of ruthenium, it’s easy to see why it has become the darling of the industry. It is extremely conductive, resists corrosion like few metals, and is less affected by electromigration, the process that wears out chip materials over time.

The problem is that ruthenium is absurdly rare. To give you an idea, it represents only 0.0000002% of the Earth’s crust. In other words, finding and extracting this metal in sufficient quantities to replace copper is not easy at all.

The main reserves are located in South Africa, Russia, Zimbabwe, Canada, and the USA. And if the demand for ruthenium increases, you can bet that major powers will start competing for every gram available.

The Technological War and the Search for New Materials

Speaking of disputes… It’s already clear that strategic materials are at the center of a fight between the USA and China. This is already happening with gallium, germanium, and antimony, which have been used as bargaining chips in this trade war.

Now imagine if ruthenium, an even rarer and essential metal, really enters the game. The impact would be gigantic. With few reserves in the world, controlling this material could mean economic and technological advantage. If copper falls, ruthenium could become one of the most sought-after resources in the industry.

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João Prado

#122917

06/02/2025 11:58

O planeta está sendo destruído pela super população como disse o cientista e navegador francês Jack Custeau que pesquisava no mundo inteiro em 1900 era de 1, 6 bilhões de habitantes hoje somos mais de 8 bilhões e só passou 120 anos quando li essa entrevista em 84 não tive dúvidas e avisaram em 80 que o CO2 havia passado do equilíbrio em ppm parte por milhão e que tinha que começar a mudar pra energia limpa os poderosos gananciosos do petróleo não ouviram hoje estamos vendo tudo as mudanças climáticas preocupante planejamento familiar JÁ e plantar florestas e mudar pra energia limpa urgente o planeta pede socorro Deus abençoe a todos nós 🙏

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Ruthenium: The Rare Metal That Could Dethrone Copper and Change the Chip Industry!

With High Conductivity and Corrosion Resistance, Ruthenium Emerges as the Successor to Copper in Chip Manufacturing. But It Has a Problem (And a Big One!): It Is Extremely Rare, Representing Just 0.0000002% of the Earth’s Crust. Will This Be the New Gold of Technology?

The Crucial Role of Copper in the Semiconductor Industry

Why Is Ruthenium Catching Attention as a Substitute for Copper?

The Technological War and the Search for New Materials

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Ruthenium: The Rare Metal That Could Dethrone Copper and Change the Chip Industry!

With High Conductivity and Corrosion Resistance, Ruthenium Emerges as the Successor to Copper in Chip Manufacturing. But It Has a Problem (And a Big One!): It Is Extremely Rare, Representing Just 0.0000002% of the Earth’s Crust. Will This Be the New Gold of Technology?

The Crucial Role of Copper in the Semiconductor Industry

Why Is Ruthenium Catching Attention as a Substitute for Copper?

The Technological War and the Search for New Materials

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

SpaceX will dock a $843 million vehicle to the International Space Station to push a nearly 420-ton laboratory against the atmosphere and make the debris fall in a controlled manner into the ocean.

China opens the world’s first school where more than 100 humanoid robots from different brands will study together, each movement will be repeated up to 600 times a day and the data will feed a collective brain that will teach all the robots of the future.

A giant golden ball in the middle of gardens in India was assembled with 1,415 discs, took decades to be completed, and transforms sunlight into controlled central lighting.

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The largest neighborhoods in each state of Brazil are astonishing in size: Campo Grande leads with 352,000 inhabitants, Cidade Industrial exceeds 172,000, and Jorge Teixeira dominates the North.

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