On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 21:09:06 -0400, you wrote:

>Hi Bob,
>
>Thought you may find this "blast from the past" of interest...
>
>This discussion came up on the Microchip BBS way back in 1993/1994 =
(actually
>it came up many times -- it was like an old penny that kept returning).
>Check out the comments (regarding heat damaging chips, not UV itself) =
from
>Stan D'Souza from Microchip Technology:
>
>
>Date: Monday, December 20, 1993  9:11pm                            =
/APPLICN
>From: Sdsouza                                                   Msg#: =
15751
>  To: Colonel
>  Re: UV DESTROYS!
>      (Reply to #15701)
>
>Colonel,
>
>How warm or rather hot were the parts when you put them in the eraser
>for 3 days. Heat does more damage than UV light to any silicon device. I
>suggest a review of Millman's Microelectronics should explain what is
>happening after all if we only concluded by what we observe, then we
>could walk off the edge of the  earth.
>
>-Stan.
>
>
>Date: Thursday, February 17, 1994  8:13pm                          =
/APPLICN
>From: Sdsouza                                                   Msg#: =
24178
>  To: Kenmun
>  Re: Overdose on UV?
>      (Reply to #19395)
>Ken,
>
>I wish everyone would quit the quotes and counter quotes and pick up a
>good device Physics book instead. I am sorry that it would not be
>possible to explain Semiconductor 101 in this message, but there is no
>way in hell you could over-erase a part. So is Intel Full of &$@#, no.
>However I would like some one to pick up a device which has been exposed
>to 7500Wsec/cm2. Temperature can really kill a part and I don't think
>any one can argue that point. SInce UV light does generate heat, there
>is a correlation to erasing and eventual life of the part and that is
>why most eproms fail after approx 100 erase/write cycles.
>
>I hope I've managed to confuse the issue one more time!!!
>
>-Stan.


I think one source of confusion aristes from the fact that there IS a =
finite number of program/erase
cycles, but it's the programming, not the erasure that's the wear =
mechanism, like on eeproms.

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