From: glhurst@onr.com (Gerald L. Hurst)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: How to destroy an EPROM fast?
Date: 17 Nov 1995 08:57:39 GMT
Organization: Consulting Chemist
Lines: 45

In article <48fsuh$rhu@pyrrhus-f.hrz.tu-chemnitz.de>,
vhe@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de (Volker Hetzer) says:

>Hi there!
>This is my first posting here (the german pyro. group seems to be dead
>now).
>Just a question:
>Assume I have an EPROM holding very sensitive information (a
>password).  This Eprom sits in a kind of safe, together with some kind
>of microprocessor for some type of challenge-response protocol. Now if
>somebody tries to force the safe (You may assume assume I can detect
>it), the EPROM must self-destroy. There are three constrains:
>
>* It (the destroying) must not use much electrical energy since the
>  whole device is battery-powered.
>* It must be fast (a couple of seconds at most), so most acids are
>  not applicable. However I think, an acid would be the best, if it
>  would only be fast enough.
>* It must be extremely reliable, even after years.
>
>Any ideas?

This looks like a job for .... what the heck was the name of that
stuff??..... "Pyrocord" maybe.  Oh well, it is a bimetallic wire of,
I believe, platinum and aluminum. When you heat one end, an 
incandescent amalgamation of the two metals propagates along the wire 
at several feet per second. I ran into the stuff when they were 
demonstrating it to the special forces at Ft. Bragg in the 60s. 
One of the uses touted was to destroy electronic equipment in case of 
another incident like that of the Pueblo.  The material is almost 
undoubtedly stable forever and obviously needs only a little ignition 
energy. The only residue is a wire of new alloy. Move over, James Bond.


Jerry