A theoretical study on silicon betavoltaics using Ni-63

Author

Wu, Kai ; Dai, Changhong ; Guo, Hang

Author_Institution

Pen-Tung Sah Micro-Nano Technol. Res. Center, Xiamen Univ., Xiamen, China

fYear

2011

fDate

20-23 Feb. 2011

Firstpage

724

Lastpage

727

Abstract

Theoretical study of silicon betavoltaics is presented in this paper. The analytical expression of generated current is derived and the characteristic parameters are studied. The radioactive isotope Ni-63 is chosen due to its long half-life time about 100.2 years. The betavoltaic microbattery is based on a N+-P silicon junction and the junction depth (x_j) is chosen to be the penetration depth of beta particles with the average kinetic energy of 17.4 keV emitted from Ni-63. The effects of doping concentration on short-circuit current density (J_sc), open-circuit voltage (V_oc) and conversion efficiency (η) are discussed. By optimizing the doping concentration, high conversion efficiency (5%) betavoltaic microbattery can be achieved.

Keywords

cells (electric); current density; elemental semiconductors; micromechanical devices; p-n junctions; radioisotopes; silicon; average kinetic energy; betavoltaic microbattery; conversion efficiency; doping concentration; efficiency 5 percent; electron volt energy 17.4 keV; n-p silicon junction; open-circuit voltage; radioactive isotope; short-circuit current density; silicon betavoltaic battery; Batteries; Doping; Isotopes; Junctions; Kinetic energy; Neodymium; Silicon; Ni-63; microbattery; silicon betavoltaics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems (NEMS), 2011 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Kaohsiung

Print_ISBN

978-1-61284-775-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NEMS.2011.6017456

Filename

6017456