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The Ohno process was applied to produce Al-lwt.% Si alloy rods for semiconductor devices. The casting conditions which enable production of an 8mm diameter rod having a mirror surface with a highly longitudinally oriented microstmcture was established. It was demonstrated that the alloy could be drawn, without the need of intermediate recrystallization or stress relief, to produce wires of 0.14 to 0.10mm in diameter. The rela-tionships between the casting conditions and wire breakage during fine wire drawing were also studied.

An investigation has been conducted to describe the effect of Ti grain refiner or Sr modifier on the microstructure of an Al-11.3 wt.%Si alloy produced by the Ohno horizontal continuous casting process so as to obtain directional solidification at high cooling rates. Experimental results demonstrated that the directionality of the primary grains were promoted by the addition of 0.2 to 0.4%Ti or by the addition of 0.02%Sr, whereas the addition of 0.6%Ti suppressed this directionality. Feathery grains were promoted by the addition of 0.2%Ti, while these feathery grains were suppressed when over 0.4%Ti or when 0.02%Sr was added. The addition of Ti also resulted in increased coarsening of the eutectic Si in these Al-11.3 wt.%Si alloys.