ABSTRACT
Semiconductor-bridge (SCB) is a kind of igniter which is driven by an electrical input pulse, and a high-temperature plasma is then generated as the output to initiate the explosive materials. Existence of SCB plasma is critical to the functioning of the SCB device and this criteria is discussed in detail in this entry. The temperature of SCB plasma is measured at 5000–7000 K with atomic emission spectrum, and this is influenced by the shape and size of the SCB, especially the angle of the SCB chip. The component, radiation intensity, size, and speed of SCB plasma are described in detail in this entry. In addition, the non-heat effect of SCB plasma is proposed. The initial experiments show that there is no coherent relation between the ease of plasma ignition and 5-second explosion temperature. The thermal gravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves prove that the use of additives is helpful for the lead styphnate explosion in terms of reaction completeness and increase in the reaction heat and temperature. However, the additives do not cause the reaction itself to occur earlier or later. Combining the TG and DSC curves with the plasma ignition results show that the SCB plasma ignition of lead styphnate is not sensitized in the way of accelerating the heat decomposition. Thus the non-heat effect of SCB plasma is confirmed.
