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IC Failures Linked to Resin Series?

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the hamstrung-hardware dept.

MEW writes "According to this article, 'the semiconductor industry began using red phosphorus as a flame retardant instead of the Br-based compound it had used for years,' due to environmental concerns. By July 2002, 1000 tons of the stuff was used for about a billion chips, when they stopped due to high component failures. In particular Sumitomo Bakelite caused rampant failures in Fujitsu disk drives. There's still a lot of Sumitomo Bakelite out there, and we may see the worst of it soon, as components start to fail prematurely. This was posted by Spaceman on Macintouch who says that the bad material accounts for 'half the world's supply of 'IC Plastics'' and can result in 'sudden or premature end of life.'"

4 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. I can see the results here, oddly enough. by Puggles · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's strange to read that, since the Digital-Analog converter on my video card apparently has died this morning when my computer turned on.

    On the plus side to this premature failure, Slashdot now looks extremely trippy... Those green bars keep blinking magenta!

    The down side is the contrast for text is really bad... :(

    --

    Pereant, inquit, qui ante nos nostra dixerunt.
    "Confound those who have said our remarks before us."
    1. Re:I can see the results here, oddly enough. by Threni · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's not resin...sounds like something stronger, such as a Skunk v - Northern Lights I hybrid.

      Is it going my way?

  2. Red Phosphorous... by Bigman · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...Does that mean if my chips glow red in the dark then its a bad thing?
    Perhaps I need one of those heat-sink thingies.

    --
    *--BigMan--- Time flies like an arrow.. but personally I prefer a nice glass of wine!
  3. Re:heh - this will be new copout... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    >And if the environmentalists keep getting their way

    Yeah those damn peacenik hippi socialists that control the house, senate, supreme court, white house, wto, and all of those multi-national companies that are ruining this world or ours.