Betavoltaic Battery using Platinum/Porous ZnO Schottky Junction

Background and Objectives: Semiconductor junction-based radioisotope detectors are commonly used in radioisotope batteries due to their small size and excellent performance. This study aims to design a betavoltaic battery based on a metal-porous semiconductor Schottky structure, comprising an N-type zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor and platinum (Pt) metal. Methods: we utilized the TCAD-SILVACO 3D simulator to simulate the device, and a C-Interpreter code was applied to simulate the beta particle source, which was an electron beam with an average energy equivalent to 63Ni beta particles. The short circuit current, open-circuit voltage, fill factor (FF), and efficiency of the designed structure were calculated through simulation. Additionally, we discussed the theoretical justification based on the energy band structure. Results: The energy conversion efficiency of the proposed structure was calculated to be 11.37% when bulk ZnO was utilized in the Schottky junction. However, by creating pores and increasing the effective junction area, a conversion efficiency of 35.5% was achieved. The proposed structure exhibited a short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor (FF) of 37.5 nA, 1.237 V, and 76.5%, respectively.Conclusion: This study explored a betavoltaic device with a porous structure based on a Schottky junction between Pt and ZnO semiconductor. The creation of pores increased the contact surface area and effectively trapped beta beams, resulting in improved performance metrics such as efficiency, short circuit current, and open-circuit voltage.