Digital Micro-Thruster Chip
THE DIGITAL PROPULSION "ROCKET CHIP" consists of a three-layer
sandwich of silicon and
glass.
This prototype
contains 15 individual thrusters, in the central 3 by 5 array.
The gold-colored squares are the silicon nitride rupture diaphragms
at the bottom of diverging nozzles.
A layer containing cylindrical chambers filled with
lead styphnate
is bonded to the underside of the diaphragm layer.
The bottom layer contains polysilicon resistors
that initiate combustion of the fuel.
Copyright © California Institute of Technology, 1999, 2000
Last Updated
Thu Jul 15 09:28:41 PDT 1999
