Experimental characteristics of fast aluminum thin films explosion

Summary form only given. The exploding wire phenomenon is well researched for the micrometer-size conductors. Nevertheless the publications concerning exploding films of nanometer-thick are not so numerous. In this paper some experimental results of nanosecond exploding Al films vaporized on polypropylene substrates exposed to high-voltage pulses (up to 8 kV, 1 kA) are presented. The thickness of polypropylene film is 10 µm, sheet resistance of Al coating layer is 3 Ω/square (which corresponds to 20 nm of thickness). The maximum current density through the sample is 3*10¹² A/m². The dynamic and power characteristics are obtained for the explosion events. The optical registration of light emission during the explosion is also performed. Typical experimental current waveform comprised 3 phases: initial strike, dwell time and restrike, however at some conditions resrtrike may not occur. It was shown that dwell time is dependent on discharge voltage. Also some features of the process are found: the experimental specific action integral for exploding films is less than known one for exploding wires; complete Al film destruction energy density is several times less than a table Al evaporation energy density. The possible reasons of stated features are discussed.