Patent ID: 8643283

Claim:
An electronic device comprising: a plurality of open failure-susceptible components joined in series relationship to one another in a main circuit; and an ancillary circuit containing a bypass control element arranged to maintain the ancillary circuit in a non-current flow condition when none of the open failure-susceptible components has experienced open failure, and to reroute current from the main circuit around an open-failed component through the ancillary circuit and back to the main circuit in the event of an open failure to bypass the open-failed component so that all non-failed series components of the main circuit remain operative when electrically energized, wherein the bypass control element includes an anti-fuse assembly that includes at least one anti-fuse layer positioned over a first metal contact, wherein the first metal contact is positioned adjacent to a second metal contact on a first surface of a substrate and separated from the second metal contact by a gap along the first surface of the substrate, wherein a third metal contact is physically connected to the at least one anti-fuse layer and is electrically isolated from the first metal contact by the at least one anti-fuse layer and is electrically connected with the second metal contact, wherein the at least one anti-fuse layer comprises a material configured to at least one of alloy with, diffuse into, and chemically react with at least one of the first metal contact and the third metal contact to form one of a conductive alloy and a conductive reaction product to enable current flow from the first metal contact through the at least one anti-fuse layer to the second metal contact across the gap via the third metal contact under said open failure conditions.