Betavoltaics from COTS: Power for Years
EMSL Project ID
51569
Abstract
Overwhelmingly, betavoltaics’ (BV) long-lasting power opens a broad range of applications which are not currently available. The birth of very low power electronics has opened up a market for the wide and accepted use of BVs (US Patent: US9887018). Today’s low-power electronics are feeding the internet of things revolution. We propose to develop a low-power demonstration to support basic science studies in efficiency, component damage, and manufacturing processing of betavoltaic devices. PNNL has the diverse skill required to solve the challenges of BV development. This proposed effort would bring together EED (materials effects studies, environmental impacts, energy missions), EMSL (material characterization), and NSD (BV design, fabrication, and mission applications).Beta particle impacts have the potential to damage the metal contact region of the betavoltaic device. Beta particles impact in the region where power is extracted from the semiconductor, this electron-hole pairs made by the beta can promote the formation of metal alloys at the extraction point which leads to lost power generation. The formation of intermetallic contact alloys by beta impacts is not well known and can lead to device inoperability.
The formation of beta-induced alloys at the contacts of the betavoltaic needs to be understood for the next generation of semiconductors. This work will seek to understand the formation of intermetallic regions at the contacts, as well as propose possible mitigation strategies. A better understanding of contact intermetallic formation from betavoltaics will set PNNL up as a world leader in this field and lead to development of PNNL based betavoltaic power for mission-critical sensor platforms.
Project Details
Start Date
2020-05-19
End Date
2020-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members