Delete comment from: Ken Shirriff's blog

Philip said...

Fuse technology at MMI and later at AMD (which acquired MMI) used several different materials. AMD/MMI PALs used Platinum Silicide (PlSi) and Titanium Tungsten (TiW). I remember seeing photo micrographs of Nichrome fuses that looked like two interdigitated combs, with a lot of debris in the blown fuse area. The Nichrome fuses had a reputation for being unreliable, and "growing back". The PlSi and TiW fuses were more reliable. Their photo micrographs looked like the material melted and then while liquid, surface tension made the material roll back to the unmelted material, leaving a much cleaner area in blown fuses.

Jul 31, 2019, 12:09:05 AM

Posted to Looking inside a 1970s PROM chip that stores data in microscopic fuses