Firing process and spectrum diagnosis of semiconductor bridge for high output energy micro-initiator

Abstract

The fabrication and firing process of a low firing energy, semiconductor-based, Al/CuO nano-energetic multilayers films (nEMFs) initiator was presented. By taking advantage of microelectronic techniques, the nanostructured energetic multilayers were deposited on a semiconductor bridge to create an Al/CuO nEMFs semiconductor bridge initiator whose energetic power is boosted considerably. The firing process, energy boosting mechanism, and performance of nEMFs initiator were investigated by an ultra-high-speed framing photography testing system and a spectrum diagnosis testing system. The obtained results showed that nanostructured energetic material emerged from the triggered composite at a high-speed and the turning points in the electric discharge characteristic curve were consistent with the observations from the high speed photography. The emission spectrum of Al/CuO nEMFs initiator versus different excitation energy was diagnosed. It was noted the electron temperature and density was first increased and then decreased. The electron temperature was in the range of 4500 K–7000 K and the electron density was 1.6 × 1016 cm−3 − 2.9 × 1016 cm−3. The plasma with above temperature and duration was capable of initiating secondary energetic materials. At last, the effectiveness of the Al/CuO nEMFs was proved by a design validation testing and initiator with Al/CuO nEMFs had better firing capability.