Metal contact fuse element

摘要

Severable metal contacts ( 42 ) are provided for use within a circuit in a semiconductor device whereby an open circuit may be formed by the application of a pre-selected voltage or current. Preferred embodiments and associated methods are described in which a semiconductor device fuse ( 30 ) includes first and second conductors ( 36, 38 ) having first and second metallic contacts ( 40, 42 ) operably coupled to a conductive layer ( 34 ) for forming an electrical path. At least one of the metallic contacts ( 42 ) is configured to operate as a metallic fuse element adapted to form an open circuit ( 44 ) in response to reaching a pre-selected voltage threshold or current. Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in which it is used for programmable read only memory (PROM) elements.