US Patent 7268661 Composite fuse element and methods of making same

A composite fuse element includes a network or matrix of conductive material that is in contact and interspersed with arc suppressing materials at a particle level. In such a matrix, the conductive (e.g., metal) network and the arc suppressing material particles provides a large contact surface area between these materials. When the conductive network melts or vaporizes, the resulting conductive vapors are adsorbed into the arc suppressing particles in a short time due to the large contact area between conductive and arc suppressing materials and the short diffusion distance that the conductive vapors are required to travel before they are absorbed by the arc suppressing material.