Oxygen-free copper

OFHC is produced by the direct conversion of selected refined cathodes and castings under carefully controlled conditions to prevent contamination of the pure oxygen-free metal during processing.

OF/OFE-grade copper is used in plasma deposition (sputtering) processes, including the manufacture of semiconductors and superconductor components, as well as in other ultra-high vacuum devices such as particle accelerators.

[11] The high-end speaker wire industry markets oxygen-free copper as having enhanced conductivity or other electrical properties that are supposedly advantageous to audio signal transmission.

In fact, conductivity specifications for common C11000 (ETP) and higher-cost C10200 oxygen-free (OF) coppers are identical;[12] and even the much more expensive C10100 has only a one-percent higher conductivity—insignificant in audio applications.

[13] Copper alloys containing oxygen as an impurity (in the form of residual oxides present in the metal matrix) can be embrittled if exposed to hot hydrogen.

CuOFP has been selected as corrosion-resistant material for the overpack of spent nuclear fuel in the KBS-3 concept developed in Sweden and Finland to dispose of high-level radioactive waste in crystalline rock formations.