Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source
An idealized design of a silicon betavoltaic battery with a tritium source is considered, in which a thin layer of tritiated silicon is sandwiched between two intrinsic silicon slabs of equal width, and the excess charge carriers are collected by thin interdigitated n<sup>+</sup> and p&l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/11/2015 |
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| author | Mykhaylo Evstigneev Mohammad Afkani Igor Sokolovskyi |
| author_facet | Mykhaylo Evstigneev Mohammad Afkani Igor Sokolovskyi |
| author_sort | Mykhaylo Evstigneev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An idealized design of a silicon betavoltaic battery with a tritium source is considered, in which a thin layer of tritiated silicon is sandwiched between two intrinsic silicon slabs of equal width, and the excess charge carriers are collected by thin interdigitated n<sup>+</sup> and p<sup>+</sup> electrodes. The opposite sides of the device are covered with a reflecting coating to trap the photons produced in radiative recombination events. Due to photon recycling, radiative recombination is almost ineffective, so the Auger mechanism dominates. An analytical expression for the current–voltage curve is obtained, from which the main characteristics of the cell, namely, the open-circuit voltage, the fill factor, and the betaconversion efficiency, are found. The analytical results are shown to agree with the numerical ones with better than 0.1% accuracy. The optimal half-thickness of this device is found to be around 1.5 μm. The maximal efficiency increases logarithmically with the surface activity of the beta-source and has the representative value of 12.07% at 0.1 mCi/cm<sup>2</sup> and 14.13% at 10 mCi/cm<sup>2</sup>. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:36:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-363cae36586e410c96afd7de29f23d18 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:36:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-363cae36586e410c96afd7de29f23d182023-11-24T14:56:14ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2023-10-011411201510.3390/mi14112015Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium SourceMykhaylo Evstigneev0Mohammad Afkani1Igor Sokolovskyi2Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X7, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X7, CanadaV. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, NAS of Ukraine, 41 Prospect Nauky, 03028 Kyiv, UkraineAn idealized design of a silicon betavoltaic battery with a tritium source is considered, in which a thin layer of tritiated silicon is sandwiched between two intrinsic silicon slabs of equal width, and the excess charge carriers are collected by thin interdigitated n<sup>+</sup> and p<sup>+</sup> electrodes. The opposite sides of the device are covered with a reflecting coating to trap the photons produced in radiative recombination events. Due to photon recycling, radiative recombination is almost ineffective, so the Auger mechanism dominates. An analytical expression for the current–voltage curve is obtained, from which the main characteristics of the cell, namely, the open-circuit voltage, the fill factor, and the betaconversion efficiency, are found. The analytical results are shown to agree with the numerical ones with better than 0.1% accuracy. The optimal half-thickness of this device is found to be around 1.5 μm. The maximal efficiency increases logarithmically with the surface activity of the beta-source and has the representative value of 12.07% at 0.1 mCi/cm<sup>2</sup> and 14.13% at 10 mCi/cm<sup>2</sup>.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/11/2015betavoltaic effectenergy harvestingsilicontritiumefficiencyradiative recombination |
| spellingShingle | Mykhaylo Evstigneev Mohammad Afkani Igor Sokolovskyi Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source Micromachines betavoltaic effect energy harvesting silicon tritium efficiency radiative recombination |
| title | Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source |
| title_full | Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source |
| title_fullStr | Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source |
| title_full_unstemmed | Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source |
| title_short | Limit Efficiency of a Silicon Betavoltaic Battery with Tritium Source |
| title_sort | limit efficiency of a silicon betavoltaic battery with tritium source |
| topic | betavoltaic effect energy harvesting silicon tritium efficiency radiative recombination |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/11/2015 |
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