EPROM Eraser not erasing New EPROM

[steve ravet]

"Jason R. Haines" wrote:
> 
> I thought of one other thing. On one of our older erasers, the bulbs were
> going bad and although they still turned on, they were dimmer than new. I am
> not sure if the wavelength that erases the PROMs is visible to the human eye
> or if they are just making the light visible so we can tell when the bulb is
> on. You might try putting a new bulb(s) in the eraser (or test another chip
> or in another eraser to isolate the problem).

The wavelength that does the erasing is way beyond visible (200 nm or
something like that?).  Regular glass is opaque at that wavelength which
is why the tube itself and the window in the chip are made from quartz. 
>From everything I've read it's also really really bad for your eyes, so
please be careful erasing them.  The timer isn't to protect the tube,
it's to protect the chip.  Too much exposure will damage them.  The
datasheet from the EPROM manufacturer should mention how many
erase/program cycles it's good for.  I don't think you've damaged yours,
though, I'm sure it would pass through "fully erased" on it's way to
"messed up".

--steve


-- 
Steve Ravet
steve.ravet at arm.com
ARM,Inc.
www.arm.com
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