Characterization of Exploding Film Plasmas Using Emission Spectroscopy

Abstract

Exploding films have a variety of potential applications including current interrupters, ignition of energetic materials, and sources of intense light. However, characterization of these events remains a challenge as the average duration of an event is only on the order of 100 ?s in our studies. An effort to obtain a complete understanding of the exploding film and plasma generation phenomena is underway. This paper investigates the spectral and electrical output of exploding film events on metallized polypropylene film samples. Assuming the plasma generated from the exploding film is a blackbody radiator, peak temperature can be estimated using trends of wavelength versus intensity. This data allows for a more accurate characterization of the plasma that results from the exploding films. A holistic understanding of the deterministic mechanisms of the plasma enables future controllability and tunability in exploding film applications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA499526

Entities

People

  • A. Halstead
  • H. Moore
  • J. Mahan
  • K. Burke
  • R. Lange
  • W. J. Sarjeant

Organizations

  • University at Buffalo

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Aluminum
  • Emission
  • Emission Spectroscopy
  • Energetic Materials
  • Energy
  • Energy Systems
  • Films
  • High Temperature
  • Intensity
  • Light Sources
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • New York
  • Polypropylene
  • Spectroscopy
  • Waveforms

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.