Liquid-semiconductor-based micro power source using radioisotope energy conversion

Author

Wacharasindhu, Tongtawee ; Kwon, Jae Wan ; Meier, David E. ; Robertson, J. David

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Missouri- Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 June 2009

Firstpage

656

Lastpage

659

Abstract

In this paper, we present a betavoltaic micro power source using liquid-semiconductor for the first time. We have fabricated and characterized a MEMS-based micro battery, which is powered by a radioactive source with a liquid-semiconductor-based Schottky diode. Semiconductor properties of liquid selenium are utilized with radioactive sulfur (³⁵S) for direct power conversion. The radioisotope material is encapsulated with liquid semiconductor in a micromachined device. Experimental results show that maximum of 16.2 nW can be harvested from the micromachined liquid semiconductor Schottky diode. A large open-circuit voltage of 899 mV and short-circuit current of 0.107 muA were also observed.

Keywords

Schottky diodes; cells (electric); energy harvesting; liquid semiconductors; microfabrication; micromechanical devices; nuclear power; radioisotopes; selenium; short-circuit currents; sulphur; ³⁵S; MEMS-based micro battery fabrication; Schottky diode; Se; betavoltaic micro power source; current 0.107 muA; direct power conversion; energy harvesting; liquid-semiconductor-based micro power source; micromachined device; open-circuit voltage; power 16.2 nW; radioactive source; radioactive sulfur; radioisotope energy conversion; radioisotope material encapsulation; short-circuit current; voltage 899 mV; Batteries; Beta rays; Chemicals; Degradation; Energy conversion; Lattices; Radioactive materials; Schottky diodes; Semiconductor materials; Solids; Liquid Semiconductor; Micro Power Source; Radioisotope;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2009. TRANSDUCERS 2009. International

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4190-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4193-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2009.5285410

Filename

5285410