Self-destructing mobile phone trial production completed: processor chip melts in seconds

There are often scenes in spy movies where cell phones self-destruct, for example, when an agent receives secret information or before encountering an accident, he triggers the mechanism to prevent the information from being leaked.

According to IEEE Spectrum, an upcoming issue of Advanced Materials Technology magazine will detail a new research result from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. They have successfully developed a prototype of a mobile phone with a self-destruct mechanism that can now successfully destroy the processor chip.

Judging from the results of the experimental model, the process is relatively mild.

The self-destruction mechanism relies on an expandable polymer layer, which has the property that when heated to temperatures above 80°C, it can quickly expand to about seven times its original volume, the researchers said.

The heat that triggers the polymer to expand comes from a heater electrode, with the power directed from a battery. If 500-600 milliwatts are released, it takes 10-15 seconds, and if 300 milliwatts are released, it takes up to a minute. Because the expandable polymer has a larger coefficient of expansion and causes enough tension in the thin silicon on top of the polymer, it simply cracks and then breaks.

In addition, the researchers' considerations are quite rigorous; triggering behavior does not necessarily require manual activation by a person; it can also be accomplished with the help of a GPS chip or even by communicating with the APP and entering a password.

Now, the team is considering expanding the objects of self-destruction to components such as flash memory and baseband.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.