What is copper foil?
Copper foil can be regarded as the blood vessels of electronic devices: lithium batteries rely on it to conduct electricity, circuit boards use it to transmit digital signals, and it is an indispensable basic conductive material for all computing hardware. Ordinary copper foil can only meet the low-speed transmission requirements of consumer electronics, while AI servers must use high-end HVLP low-profile copper foil. The performance requirements for copper foil increase exponentially as the computing power becomes more advanced.
Why do AI servers rely heavily on high-end copper foil?
1. The higher the transmission rate, the need for low-roughness copper foil
High-frequency signals have a "skin effect", and the current only transmits along the surface of the copper foil; the surface of ordinary copper foil is uneven, resulting in high signal transmission loss and severe overheating. HVLP copper foil has an extremely smooth surface, significantly reducing signal loss and being suitable for ultra-high-speed computing power transmission at 112G/224Gbps.
2. The more layers of PCB, the more tests for thickness uniformity and adhesion
AI server motherboards generally reach 30-46 layers of multi-layer boards, and the copper foil is as thin as micrometers. If the thickness is uneven, it is very likely to cause delamination and short circuits; at the same time, the multi-layer lamination requires the copper foil and the substrate to be firmly adhered, and the peel strength must meet the standards.
3. Comprehensive upgrade of hardware materials, forcing the popularization of HVLP high-performance copper foil
NVIDIA's new generation GB300 and domestic Shengteng high-end computing platforms have fully upgraded M8/M9 low-loss copper-clad boards. Ordinary standard copper foil cannot match the material system and can only be used with the HVLP series of high-end copper foil.
I. Latest industry signals
1. Global high-end HVLP 4th generation copper foil production capacity is severely scarce. Leading manufacturers have orders in hand until 2027, and overseas cloud providers and chip manufacturers directly step in to secure long-term supply capacity;
2. AI computing hardware materials enter a generational switching cycle. The industry as a whole is iterating from HVLP 2/3 to higher standards HVLP 4, HVLP 5. The processing fees for high-end copper foil continue to rise;
3. Domestic copper foil for PCB has accelerated domestic substitution. In the past, Japanese manufacturers monopolized the high-end market, and enterprises such as Deifu and Tongguan have completed certification for leading CCL and PCB manufacturers and have begun to introduce AI server supply chains.
II. Why AI computing power directly amplifies copper foil demand
1. Each AI server GPU motherboard, high-speed switch, OAM module require a large amount of HVLP high-end copper foil, and the usage is 5-8 times that of traditional servers;
2. Global computing power clusters are continuously expanding on a large scale, large model training, supercomputing, and cloud inference continuously drive the demand for high-speed PCB, and the upstream copper foil is in short supply simultaneously;
3. Industry material standards have been upgraded comprehensively. Low-end ordinary copper foil gradually cannot adapt to the new generation of computing hardware, and the demand for high-end HVLP copper foil continues to increase;
4. Downstream copper-clad boards and PCB manufacturers have locked production capacity in advance, signed 2-3-year long-term order contracts, and the visibility of high-end copper foil orders has significantly increased.
III. Most concerned: Difficulties of high-end HVLP PCB copper foil
Complete production process: copper dissolution/liquid preparation → electrolytic sheet production → surface treatment → anti-oxidation post-treatment → cutting/testing → finished product shipment
1. Electrolytic sheet production: Core control of roughness, elongation rate, tensile strength
The electrolytic process directly determines the flatness of the copper foil base, a micrometer-level error will lead to excessive roughness; at the same time, it must also take into account tensile toughness, multi-layer lamination will not break, which is the core technology of the entire production line.
2. Surface treatment: Strict control of thickness consistency
Nano-level special coating treatment, it is necessary to achieve an extremely smooth surface and improve the adhesion to the copper-clad board resin, balancing the two contradictory indicators of "low loss" and "high viscosity".
3. Anti-oxidation / post-treatment: Eliminate pinholes and surface defects
Computing power motherboards operate under high load for a long time, small pinholes and oxidation spots will cause system failures, the defect detection standard is strict, and defective products are directly scrapped.
4. Cutting & Inspection: Stable and controllable peel strength, batch consistency
The error in peel strength of each roll of copper foil must be controlled within a very narrow range. The performance of different batches should not show significant deviations. High-end customers do not accept fluctuations in batch performance.
The real threshold for high-end copper foil
1. Not only can it be produced, but it also needs to achieve long-term stable mass production and maintain high yield continuously;
2. The certification cycle for leading computing power customers lasts for 1-2 years, and the testing process is cumbersome, with extremely high certification barriers;
3. High-end copper foil is a comprehensive ability of equipment, special chemical formula, and refined management of the workshop. Any single weak link cannot produce products that meet the standards.
The supporting and coordination system for high-end copper foil
The HVLP copper foil for high-end PCB cannot be used alone. It requires a complete set of upstream and downstream materials to be matched:
1. Raw material system: High-purity electrolytic copper raw materials, special electrolyte, which directly affect the purity of the base and the surface flatness;
2. Chemical treatment system: Exclusive surface coating agents, anti-oxidation reagents, determining adhesion and signal loss;
3. CCL copper-clad laminate material system: Low-loss resin, ultra-thin glass fiber cloth, the copper foil and the board must be matched and debugged;
4. PCB processing system: High-end multilayer board lamination, etching processes, the copper foil performance needs to match the PCB processing parameters.
Core logic: The upgrade of CCL boards will reverse-raise the technical standards of copper foil; The AI server high-speed board is extremely sensitive to the matching degree of the entire set of materials, and a single material not meeting the standards will cause the signal integrity of the entire motherboard to fail.
Four. Complete PCB copper foil industrial chain + Representative enterprises
1. Upstream core: High-end HVLP copper foil (conductive substrate)
Defu Technology: Leading enterprise in both lithium battery and PCB copper foil sectors in China, one of the few enterprises capable of mass-producing HVLP 5 ultra-high-grade copper foil. The high-end production capacity is continuously expanded, and overseas Panasonic and Taiwan Chuo CCL have been batch-certified and supplied. Deeply penetrate NVIDIA's computing power supply chain.
Cunguan Copper Foil: Leading enterprise in the pure PCB copper foil sector, relying on the cost advantage of Tongling Copper's own copper raw materials to achieve full-scale production of HVLP 1-4 series. A leading core supplier of copper-clad boards in China, with extremely strong performance elasticity in 2026.
Zhongyi Technology: The basic business of lithium battery copper foil is stable, accelerating the layout of HVLP high-speed and PCB copper foil, continuously promoting the certification of leading computing power board manufacturers, and having valuation switching space.
Jiayuan Technology: Benchmark in the industry of ultra-thin copper foil for lithium battery, simultaneously laying out HVLP copper foil for AI use, high-end products have completed technical verification with leading customers, and waiting for the landing of batch orders.
2. Middlestream: High-speed CCL copper-clad board + glass fiber cloth (copper foil carrier substrate)
High-speed CCL manufacturers
Shengyi Technology: The absolute leader in domestic copper-clad boards, M8/M9 high-end low-loss boards have passed NVIDIA GB300 certification, the market share of AI server CCL in China is the first, and a large amount of HVLP high-grade copper foil is used.
Hua Zheng Xincai: M7/M8 high-speed CCL is batch-produced, and at the same time, it is laying out ABF laminated film for IC carrier boards, suitable for domestic Ascend computing hardware.
Nan Ya Xincai: Positioning for high-end computing power boards, M8-level copper-clad boards are mainly targeted at overseas computing power customers, and the purchase volume of high-grade copper foil continues to grow.
Glass fiber cloth (core raw material of CCL)
Honghe Technology: Leading high-end ultra-thin low-impedance electronic glass fiber cloth, exclusively supplying M8/M9 high-end CCL, is a must-have supporting material for AI copper-clad boards.
3. Downstream terminal: High-end PCBA for AI servers/switches
Huilei Share: Core manufacturer of high-end PCBA for AI servers, an essential supplier in the NVIDIA supply chain, extensively uses HVLP copper foil to make GPU motherboards.
Shenghong Technology: Leading enterprise in computing power switch and server multi-layer boards, has its own CCL production line, and has long-term lock-in orders for high-grade copper foil.
Shennan Circuit: Balances AI server PCBA and advanced packaging carrier boards, a core PCB supplier for domestic computing hardware.
Jingwang Electronics: Covers high-end circuit boards for servers and communication switches. It has stable cooperation with many leading domestic computing power customers.
V. Core Views on the PCB Copper Foil Industry Chain
Complete Conduction Chain: High-Value High-Performance Copper Foil → High-Speed Low-Dissipation CCL → AI Servers / High-Speed Switching Boards. The upstream materials directly determine the performance of the terminal computing power hardware;
The industry has four long-term upgrade trends: high-speed, high-reliability, high-multilayer, and low-loss. All of these drive the expansion of demand for high-end HVLP copper foil;
AI servers and high-end switches are the core drivers of the entire industry chain's growth. The expansion of computing power hardware directly opens up the long-term ceiling of copper foil;
The industry competition logic has changed: No longer competing on low-end production capacity and low prices. The real core barriers are concentrated in high-end HVLP structure technology, long-term certification of leading computing power customers, and a complete high-end product matrix;
The market tends to only focus on chips, PCBs, and optical modules, but copper foil, CCL, high-end glass fiber cloth, and other upstream basic materials are also an overlooked but significant revaluation sector for computing power hardware.