Antifuse technology

Antifuses (English for anti-fuses ) are switching elements in microelectronics . They are often used to program PLDs or one- time programmable (OTP) FPGAs . They work inversely to programmable fuses which, when activated, melt irreversibly (see fuse , fuses ) and thus interrupt an existing contact. With antifuses, the insulation layer is irreversibly burned through when a programming voltage is applied, and a low-resistance connection with low capacitance is created .

Compared to the originally used fuses of an FPGA, only 2–4% need to be addressed (= programmed) in order to implement the desired logic circuit . The speed of the programming process is significantly higher than when setting the configuration in EEPROM or SRAM cells, which can, however, be reset.

The high voltages and currents required for programming are provided by peripheral switching elements of the FPGA, which, due to the required power, take up significantly more space than the actual circuit itself. In comparison to fuse technology, lower currents are required for programming.

Since SRAM and (E) EPROM cells are sensitive to cosmic radiation , antifuse logic modules are often used in satellites instead.

Individual evidence

↑ Frank Kesel, Ruben Bartholomä: Design of digital circuits and systems with HDLs and FPGAs: Introduction with VHDL and SystemC . Oldenbourg Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-59406-5 , pp. 198 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

[1] Frank Kesel, Ruben Bartholomä: Design of digital circuits and systems with HDLs and FPGAs: Introduction with VHDL and SystemC . Oldenbourg Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-59406-5 , pp. 198 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).