[ltp] T43: Overheating?

[Daniel Skorka]

On Sat, Jan 21, 2006 at 04:07:38PM +0100, Henrik Brix Andersen wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 21, 2006 at 10:53:53AM +0100, Macskasi Csaba wrote:
> > At a temperature of ~130C the silicium melts so as far as I know
> > that is the critical limit.
> 
> Not quite. Silicium has a melting point of 1687 K (1414 C, 2577 F).

The problem ist not the melting point either of pure or of doped
silicium (which, by the way, isn't the only material found in CPUs), but
that of diffusion. Above a certain temperature, the thermal energy of
atoms can become large enough for them to leave their position within
the crystal lattice. This will, if enough atoms do so, lead to short
circuits within the chip.

Daniel