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A review of corrosion mechanisms in integrated electronics is presented. For metallization corrosion to occur, moisture and impurities such as Na, K or Cl must he present to form an electrolytic cell. The aluminum metallization of Integrated Circuits must be protected from the environment to prevent corrosion from occurring. Thick Film Hybrid circuits, besides being susceptable to IC corrosion mechanisms, also can fail due to dendrite formation causing shorting between gold or silver conductors that are exposed to moisture and halogen impurities.

A unique and very versatile circuit is described which converts changes in physical parameters such as capacitance, resistance, and inductance into a proportional pulse width modulated digital signal. This circuit, in combination with sensors which utilize these physical parameters in their operation, can be used to provide digital inputs to microprocessors and other digital control and diagnostic systems. Advantages of this particular circuit are its potential for high reliability, accuracy, and low cost. Several applications are described and an integrated circuit version of the circuit is discussed.