# Strange object found inside of IC chip



## Tzoax (Nov 26, 2018)

While i was sieving/separating wires and heatsinks from silicon dies (from mixed IC chips) i found this strange looking object/material. It looks like molten yellow glass, like amber. I never saw anything similar inside of IC chips.
It is about 7mm long.




I thought that this material somehow "got there" from another source (not IC chips) but it is very unlikely because when i looked under microscope i could see some epoxy/ash particles still attached to it - meaning it was covered with epoxy once before. Not to mention that i really take care of while sorting - it never happened that i put some other material along IC chips.

Material is light - 0.08g. While looking at it from different angles - reflection of light comes with many colors - especially purple and blue - but that reflection could not be seen on pictures.

Does anyone have idea what this could be?


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## anachronism (Nov 26, 2018)

Is this after you have incinerated your chips?


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## Tzoax (Nov 26, 2018)

anachronism said:


> Is this after you have incinerated your chips?



Yes, i found it after incineration and sieving - among wires, heatsinks and silicon dies like in the first picture.


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## speed (Nov 28, 2018)

Melted glass.. Possibly from eprom window that got too hot?


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## Tzoax (Nov 28, 2018)

speed said:


> Melted glass.. Possibly from eprom window that got too hot?



Very probably it is some sort of glass - it makes a sound like a glass. But, i am sure there was no EPROM IC chips there *with visible glass window* and all of IC' was *epoxy* made. 

I performed first incineration with propane burner (about 20 minutes) and second incineration with electric hot plate (few hours). I found that melting point of some types of glass could start at *500 °C *so it is most likely glass....but i am not sure *where it comes from* - i never seen anything like this when processing IC's.

"Depending on it's composition, some glass will melt at temperatures as low as 500 °C (900 °F), others melt at 1650 °C (3180 °F)"

I made a couple more of pictures.


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## g_axelsson (Nov 28, 2018)

At least it isn't a quartz window from an eprom. That's made from quartz to be UV-transparent and we all know that quartz can take extreme heat.

I have no idea of what it is.

Göran


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## anachronism (Nov 28, 2018)

It's the product of incineration - there's no telling what it is, or even if it resembles what it started out as surely?


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## Tzoax (Nov 28, 2018)

anachronism said:


> It's the product of incineration - there's no telling what it is, or even if it resembles what it started out as surely?



Of course - but only in case if this "thing" *is not in it's original shape* - it just looks like it is "half-melted" but maybe it is made to be like that on purpose. 

So...i guess it is not part of alien technology.... :mrgreen: i've seen better days... :lol: 

...but i will keep this artefact like odd glassy material that came out of incinerated epoxy IC chips.


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## FrugalRefiner (Nov 28, 2018)

It kind of looks like a teeny, tiny elf's shoe. Perhaps it was an early gift from Santa. :lol: 

Dave


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## Tzoax (Nov 28, 2018)

FrugalRefiner said:


> It kind of looks like a teeny, tiny elf's shoe. Perhaps it was an early gift from Santa. :lol:
> 
> Dave



   Sure it looks like elf's shoe Dave....i will try to find the other shoe in my concentrate. :lol: 

I feel funny for posting thread like this - it is little piece of glass material....but i really have no idea what it is doing in my IC's and where it comes from....i checked the whole remaining batch (from where i found it) and there is nothing suspicious - everything is like any other time i processed IC's - wires, plates and silicon dies.... So i made this post if somebody finds "elf's shoe" like this - "don't worry - it happens sometimes before Christmas". :lol:


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## cosmetal (Nov 28, 2018)

Is it hard or soft or malleable? 

When pressed, would it crack or deform?

Water or acid soluble?

Sorry, all destructive tests. :shock: 

My bet is that it's an incineration "after product" of some sort of flame retardant chemical. :idea: 

Peace,
James


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## Tzoax (Nov 29, 2018)

cosmetal said:


> Is it hard or soft or malleable?
> 
> When pressed, would it crack or deform?
> 
> ...



It is hard - just like glass - when i bang it to another materials (glass, ceramic, metal) - it produces sound like a glass do. It would not deform - it would surely crack if i hit it harder. It is not water soluble, i haven't tried with acids yet. I will keep it just in case somebody else finds similar material after incineration....for now - if i found this just once (so far), and no one else found it - most likely it came from some other source somehow.
Thank you James


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## cosmetal (Nov 29, 2018)

Alex,

I withdraw my earlier conjecture that your foreign object is an incineration by-product of flame retardant chemicals.

I ran one of your pics through Photoshop and enhanced the image as seen below. I now believe that your object is from your propane stage of incineration. From a pic you supplied on a previous post (also below), you show your propane incineration. You have what appears to be a roof tile of some sort as a cover for the incineration tray.

Now, please note the physical shape of your "elves shoe". It has a distinct rectilinear shape on one side which suggests that it is man-made. On the opposite side, there is a stretched or extruded form that terminates in a point. This suggests it was formed during a high heat application.

I hypothesize that your roof tile cover is manufactured with some sort of recycled glass additive and that a sample of this additive heated and dropped into your IC incineration tray.

Perhaps, if you inspect your tile cover, you may see a surface void from which this "shoe" could have dropped.

Sigh . . . ! It has been raining very hard here lately and I have been stuck inside. Your elfen shoe has obsessed me. :shock: 

My apologies to the rest of the GRF board for this rainy afternoon wandering! :roll: 

James


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## anachronism (Nov 29, 2018)

No need to apologise James that was priceless. 8) 8)


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## Tzoax (Nov 30, 2018)

cosmetal said:


> Alex,
> 
> I withdraw my earlier conjecture that your foreign object is an incineration by-product of flame retardant chemicals.
> 
> ...



James... it seems you solved the mystery. You pointed at possible and most probably - the only way that this "shoe" could come from outside. Brilliant thoughts, i am amazed...thank you. I made a sketch how i made this setup. 




There are two tiles - the top one and a side one (shown on picture) - and it is clear that there are some other materials attached/formed on a part of side tile that we see in the picture - so "shoe" was most likely melted/dropped from one of those tiles by heat. 

I was obsessed with origin of "elven shoe" too, thank you for "breaking the spells"...now i can continue with processing IC's without thinking about it.  Next time i incinerate i will take care about materials around and potential sources of contamination thanks to you.

Great work James, i owe you for this!

Alex


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## cosmetal (Nov 30, 2018)

Alex.

It's the least I could do for someone who has contributed so much to this board and my learning.

Besides, having lived in California for so long, I have much experience with strange objects from both "alien" and "elfen" intrusions.

Glad I could offer some help.

Today is sunny and I have been freed to wander and look for strangeness.

Peace,
James


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## glorycloud (Nov 30, 2018)

And I was really hoping that it really was a little elf shoe.


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## markscomp (Dec 1, 2018)

Its a widget - we used to buy and sell them in economics class at slippery rock university in the 80's. Pour most of the budget we were allocated into marketing -- sell the hell out of them then lay off the employees and win the economics sales of the month award -- problem was we had a very limited functioning company 1/2 semester later and had to rebuild, but we had a lot of cash to start out with to hire new employees and dominate sales again by lowering prices 30 to 40 percent below our next competitor --later that year our cost of goods went up and employees wanted raises (damn instructor kept changing parameters) -- anyhow those widgets were stuck in all kinds of IC chips for apple computers and Packard Bell personal pcs. It seems as if you found one (there are no such things as elfs or elf shoes or we would have found them and sold them too )!
Mark


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## Tzoax (Dec 2, 2018)

markscomp said:


> Its a widget - we used to buy and sell them in economics class at slippery rock university in the 80's. Pour most of the budget we were allocated into marketing -- sell the hell out of them then lay off the employees and win the economics sales of the month award -- problem was we had a very limited functioning company 1/2 semester later and had to rebuild, but we had a lot of cash to start out with to hire new employees and dominate sales again by lowering prices 30 to 40 percent below our next competitor --later that year our cost of goods went up and employees wanted raises (damn instructor kept changing parameters) -- anyhow those widgets were stuck in all kinds of IC chips for apple computers and Packard Bell personal pcs. It seems as if you found one (there are no such things as elfs or elf shoes or we would have found them and sold them too )!
> Mark



Wow - interesting story... I tried to find any picture or information about those widgets but unfortunately i didn't... Do you have any info or picture about it - what are those widgets made of, what shape they got etc...?


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## stella polaris (Dec 3, 2018)

glorycloud said:


> And I was really hoping that it really was a little elf shoe.



You should not say so. Its not nice to incinerate tiny Elvs. Not even for gold!


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## anachronism (Dec 3, 2018)

stella polaris said:


> glorycloud said:
> 
> 
> > And I was really hoping that it really was a little elf shoe.
> ...



They tend to pop like flies on a fly zapper.


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## stella polaris (Dec 3, 2018)

anachronism said:


> stella polaris said:
> 
> 
> > glorycloud said:
> ...



How much they yield per kg?


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## anachronism (Dec 3, 2018)

It depends if they are epic or not. 8) 8)


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## stella polaris (Dec 11, 2018)

anachronism said:


> It depends if they are epic or not. 8) 8)



Got a bag of Epic ones from e-bay today. Had to stop processing them. The neighbours were complaining over the noice then I put them in the nitric. Coming back with the yield in a couple of days. Expecting a epic one. 8)


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