EDN's 18th Annual Innovation Awards Finalists
-- EDN, February 1, 2008
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&& PREVIOUS FINALIST | MAIN | NEXT FINALIST >> Category: Passive Components and Interconnect WINNER: Epic thin-film-resistor chip (Vishay)  Applications as diverse as air bags, military-pilot-ejection systems, and electronically triggered blasting in mining and demolition systems require resistive elements that convert electrical energy into heat energy over a precise electrothermal profile to initiate a series of pyrotechnic events in a controlled energetic reaction. In the past, designers had to rely on bridge-wire resistors made of short lengths of wire welded between two terminals whose value depended on the positioning and the quality of the welded joints, which are difficult to control.Vishay’s EPIC (electro-pyrotechnic-initiator-chip) resistor is the first device to offer joule-effect ignition for firing times as low as 50 μsec and a no-fire/all-fire ratio as high as 70%. With an ohmic range of 2 to 10R, the device provides designers with predictable, reproducible, and reliable behavior. The resistor features easy setup of firing levels and is compatible with various pyrotechnic compositions, even those requiring no primer.
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