Electrical Breakdown Spectroscopy of Nano-/Micro-Thermites
Stefan Lundgaard,
Soon Hock Ng,
Damien Cahill,
Johan Dahlberg,
Jamie Allender,
Michael Barber,
Joshua Stephens,
Saulius Juodkazis
Affiliations
Stefan Lundgaard
Optical Sciences Centre and ARC Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM), School of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Soon Hock Ng
Optical Sciences Centre and ARC Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM), School of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Optical Sciences Centre and ARC Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM), School of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
We describe the optical and electrical analysis of a micro-explosion of silicon and micro-thermite micro-bridges with a spectral temporal resolution within a 2 ms time range. The intensity of peaks and their mean lifetimes are calculated to identify the contributing atomic and molecular species. Singly ionised atoms and molecules were the main contributor to spectroscopic signature of emission. It is shown that micro-bridges can be used to characterise small (safe) 5000 ± 500 K (the black-body radiation fit) were achieved with simple micro-bridge junctions of 10–30 Ω resistance initiated with 100–250 V (triggered capacitor discharge). The demonstrated approach can be applied in material science research concerning ultra-fast melting, phase transitions, and detailed steps leading towards detonation (exponentially growing exothermic chemical reactions).
