Influence of environment on self-propagating reactions in Al/Ni multilayer foils

Abstract Reactive aluminum–nickel multilayer system shows exothermic energetic materials which act as a heat source for packaging and bonding of microsystems. The main challenge is controlling the self-propagation reaction velocity and temperature generated by thermal management through different thermal conductive substrate materials. The current work investigates the heat distribution of Al/Ni multilayer foils from different thermal conductive substrates which act as heat sink materials during the self-propagating reaction. A two-dimensional numerical model was developed to study thermal conductive heat loss and substrate thermal properties on the self-propagating reaction in Al/Ni multilayer foils. The self-propagating reaction was introduced on the surface of the foils by an electrical spark. Here we investigate the minimum critical thickness of Al/Ni multilayer foils which shows the self-propagation reaction on different substrates and verified from the two-dimensional numerical model. The outcomes of this investigation will facilitate the integration of Al/Ni multilayer foils on different substrates as intrinsic heat sources for different applications of micro/nanodevices. Graphical abstract