In this study, energetic Al/Ni superlattice was deposited by magnetron sputtering. A micro-plasma generator was fabricated using the energetic Al/Ni superlattice. The cross-sectional micro-structure of the energetic Al/Ni superlattice was scanned by transmission electron microscopy. Results show that the superlattice is composed of Al layer and Ni layers, and its periodic structure is clearly visible. Moreover, the bilayer thickness is about 25 nm, which consists of about 15 nm Al layer and 10 nm Ni layer. The micro initiator was stimulated using a 0.22 μF capacitor charged at 2900–4100 V. The electrical behaviors were investigated by testing the current-voltage waveform, and the plasma generation was explored by ultra-high-speed camera and photodiode. The integrated micro generator exhibited remarkable electrical exploding phenomenon, leading to plasma generations at a small timescale. The plasma outputs reflected by flyer velocities were superior to that with a much thicker bilayer of 500 nm Al/Ni multilayer. The higher flyer velocity combined with Gurney energy model confirmed the chemical reaction of the Al/Ni superlattice structure contributed to plasma production in comparison with the Al/Ni multilayers. Overall, the energetic Al/Ni superlattice was expected to pave a promising avenue to improve the initiator efficiency at a lower energy investment.

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Reactive multilayer films (RMFs) are widely used for energetic initiator applications, the reaction behavior and mechanism are systematically researched for ignition. Recently, Investigation into exploding plasma fields has been carried out based on Al/Ni RMFs. However, few papers are concerned about Al/Cu multilayers for exploding initiators. In this paper, an investigation on the influence of Al/Cu multilayers additives on initiators is described in detail. The Al/Cu multilayers are deposited by magnetron sputtering technology and their structure is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The periodic multilayer structure with controlled thickness is visible. The initiator containing Al/Cu multilayers exhibits improved exploding properties with a short exploding time, low matching charging voltages, and high flyer velocities in comparison with Cu layers or Al layer‐based initiators. Meanwhile, the flyer kinetic energy increase of up to 30 mJ indicates that this improvement could not come from the Al−Cu alloying reaction alone. The 1‐D non‐stationary acceleration model confirms that the composite electrical behavior is a factor contributing to improved flyer kinetic energy. The ultra‐high‐speed camera system is employed to observe the flyer launching process accelerated by the exploding plasma. The smaller barrel diameter is beneficial for controlling the shearing process to keep good integrity of the flyer. Overall, the electrical exploding properties of initiators can be enhanced substantially based on Al/Cu multilayers.

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Reactive multilayer films (RMFs) are a type of a thermite nanoenergetic multilayer film, which can be potentially applied to an exploding foil flyer generator (EFFG). Herein, Al/Ni RMFs with a bilayer thickness of 500 nm are integrated into an exploding foil layer by a magnetron sputtering method. The effects of interface layer on the properties of the EFFG are systematically investigated in terms of the electrical behavior and flyer velocity. The interface layer is controlled by annealing, whose structure and chemical composition are confirmed by X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The periodic multilayer structure can be clearly visible, and the thickness of interface layer increases with increasing annealing temperatures from room temperature to 573 K. The EFFG integrating as‐deposited Al/Ni RMFs exhibits improved exploding properties with a short exploding time, violent explosion region, and high flyer velocity phenomenon in comparison with generator at 573 K. Overall, the EFFGs integrated Al/Ni RMFs with larger interface layers can decrease the electrical plasma performances, which are significant for investigating the applicability in various engineering fields.