A low-ignition energy, SCB, thermite igniter

The authors describe threshold ignition studies for semiconductor bridge, SCB, ignition of aluminum/copper oxide (Al/CuO) thermite as a function of the capacitor discharge unit (CDU) firing set discharge capacitance, the charge holder material and the morphology of the CuO. All of the tests were carried out with the devices cooled to 0 F ({minus}18 C). They compared ignition thresholds using a brass charge holder and a G10 charge holder; G10 is a non-conducting, fiber-glass-epoxy composite material. They determined that at 50 V on the discharge capacitor, the thresholds were 30.1 {micro}F and 2.0 {micro}F respectively. The tests revealed that different CuO morphologies affected the function time (interval between start of the firing set current and the output of the thermite device) but did not significantly affect the threshold sensitivity.