The development of an on-chip microinitiator with a built-in safety-and-arming device

With the development of small size and high energy output of initiators, how to improve the safety of the system becomes an urgent problem. Therefore, a novel Micro-electro-mechanical System (MEMS) initiator with a built-in safety-and-arming (S&A) device is introduced in this paper. The MEMS initiator is composed of the MEMS ignitor and the MEMS S&A device. A movable barrier with a fire hole is controlled by the MEMS S&A device. Driven by the electro-thermal principle, the barrier can be moved backward or forward to open or close the fire channel, and the status conversion between the armed mode and the safe mode can be realized. The test results show that under specific control signals, the MEMS S&A device can generate 1 mm output displacement. Under the armed mode, the flame can burst out from the fire channel when stimulated by 64 V pulse voltage. Under the safe mode, the barrier hit by the flame can stay intact, and the explosion energy is blocked in the fire channel successfully. The silicon wafer and silicon-on-insulator wafer are used to fabricate the MEMS S&A device. Integrated with the MEMS ignitor, the total chip size is 11 × 12 × 1.2 mm3.