Characteristics of energetic semiconductor bridge initiator based on different stoichiometric ratios of Al/MoO3 reactive multilayer films under capacitor discharge conditions

Abstract Three types of Al/MoO 3 energetic semiconductor bridge (ESCB) initiators were prepared by integrating Al/MoO 3 reactive multilayer films (RMFs) of different stoichiometric ratios on semiconductor bridges through magnetron sputtering. The stoichiometric ratios of Al:MoO 3 were 4:1, 2:1, and 4:3. An experimental investigation for obtaining the electrical explosive characteristics of the ESCBs with different stoichiometric ratios of Al/MoO 3 RMFs was carried out under the stimulation of a 47 μF tantalum capacitor discharge. The results reveal a ‘stagflation’ phenomenon in the voltage–current–resistance curves of the ESCBs, which is obvious at low discharge voltages. The critical burst energy and critical burst time decrease with an increase in the MoO 3 ratio in RMFs for initiators discharged with identical voltages. Moreover, among the three ESCBs, the one with a stoichiometric ratio of 4:3 exhibits the highest performance with the shortest critical burst time, lowest critical burst energy, and most violent explosion phenomenon. This suggests that the ignition performance of ESCBs can be enhanced by optimising the stoichiometric ratio of Al/MoO 3 RMFs.