This is an intense flash and bang produced by a CD and a little application of high voltage.
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The flash uses only 1 kJ. It is very intense for the power as it is in part due to aluminium ignition
This is the setup. The CD is just a very thin aluminium film on a plastic substrate. That is all it takes to start a current flow. A good contact is not important because the contact is just a seed to start a large power arc that will vaporise the film in a very brief flash. I grind down the edge so the aluminium is exposed on each side.
The SunMoonStar was from my very first CD player.
The CD with ends ground down to the metal film across the terminals.
The result is the obliteration of most of the CD metallic film without charring. The film is actually on the label side with only a thin film over it plus the label ink. These have been blown off together.
I may use this for CD flash bang for IPL (intense pulsed light) experiments. The light could be focussed by my Fresnel lens, However it is still a diffuse source not really able to be focussed readily. I need to do some light output studies to look at the time frame of the flash and how it compares with a simple flash.
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Photo Date: Dec 31, 2005