Semiconductor bridge: A plasma generator for the ignition of explosives

Abstract

Small metal bridgewires are commonly used to ignite energetic powders such as pyrotechnics, propellants, and primary or secondary explosives. In this paper we describe a new means for igniting explosive materials using a semiconductor bridge (SCB). When driven with a short (20 μs), low-energy pulse (less than 3.5 mJ), the SCB produces a hot plasma that ignites explosives. The SCB, a heavily n-doped silicon film, typically 100 μm long by 380 μm wide by 2 μm thick, is 30 times smaller in volume than a conventional bridgewire. SCB devices produce a usable explosive output in a few tens of microseconds and operate at one-tenth the input energy of metal bridgewires. In spite of the low energies for ignition, SCB devices are explosively safe. We describe SCB processing and experiments evaluating SCB operation. Also discussed are the SCB vaporization process, plasma formation, optical spectra from the discharge, heat transfer mechanisms from the SCB to the explosive powders, and SCB device applications.