13 Jun
2006
13 Jun
'06
5:53 p.m.
Don Y wrote:
Jules Richardson wrote:
Eproms are chemical based in some cases. I had some of them damaged
near time when they were new.
If talking about the semiconductors, I worked in a lab in the 70's that was
doing, and had done a large amount of research on radiation hardening.
It is effectivly a speeded up version of what happens to chips over time
Jim Leonard wrote:
Has anyone any "real" data on EM effects? Or is this effectively
urban legendry?
Computer parts without any moving parts should
last forever, and in
my experience, they usually do (if cared for properly).
Natural chip decay will get 'em all in the end, but IMHO they should
last for a significant part of a person's lifetime, though. from natural sources in packaging and manufacturing, as
well as cosmic
rays. We had no way to determine a time variant, but the radiation
had
effects on the junctions, and they did change characteristics. I would
assume that with the "background" radiation levels this would occur, though
over what time span, I don't know.
It isn't urban legend. but the parts, and the environment they are in
may have an effect on the time it takes for something to drift far
enough to make a part stop working.