Effect of Substrate Thickness on Exploding Films

The exploding wire phenomenon is well researched due to its vast and practical applications which include, but are not limited to, shock wave generation, pulsed power, Z pinch physics, plasma ignition, fuses, and fusing applications. However, the focus of this research is on a surrogate for exploding wires. In this research, metallized capacitor grade-polypropylene film was used as an alternative for the traditional wire of a uniform diameter. The films that were studied have a broad variety of thicknesses ranging from 7 micron to 5 mil, lengths ranging from 5.08 cm to 19.05 cm, and sheet resistances of 1 ohm/square and 7 ohms/square. These films were used to study the effect of film properties on the transient plasma generation mechanism when exposed to a rapid high voltage discharge. The effect of these properties can be seen in the current waveform, similar to that of a uniform diameter exploding wire. By precisely understanding how the film properties affect the transient plasma formation, one can fine tune these variables to control the resulting characteristic pulse wave shape to fit a desired application.