Self-destructive microchip: Support-free energetic film of BiOBr/Al/Bi2O3 nanothermites and its destructive performance

Private information protection of electronic chips which store large amounts of sensitive data, is a crucial issue in electromechanical systems nowadays. Here, a self-destructive microchip based on an instantaneous thermite reaction is designed to prevent the leakage of electronic information. The device is consisted of a silicon test wafer and an upper energetic film coated by a simple drop-casting technique. A series of Al/BiOX-based nanothermites have been prepared for decreasing the reaction sensitivity, meanwhile optimizing the destruction efficiency of the energetic film system. Among them, Al/Bi2O3 nanothermite containing 30 wt% BiOBr possesses a low sensitivity (45 J), the maximum pressure peak (1.93 MPa) and pressure effect duration due to multiple interactions of the three nano-scale energetic components. Besides, the energetic film prepared by this nanothermite fomula also exhibits a more effective destruction of the device. The high-speed photography results demonstrate that the violent reaction shatters the thick energetic microchip (∼1 mm) within merely 0.5 ms. Importantly, the efficient destruction of energetic microchips shows excellent reproducibility in different working scenes, including Air or Ar atmosphere. It is believed that this self-destructive device with environmentally friendly components and simple but adaptive design can be extensively used in various electric microcomponents.