Demonstration of a Tritiated Nitroxide Nuclear Battery

Johnny Russo, Marc Litz, William Ray, Stephen Bayne, Gerald M. Rosen, Hansol Cho, Joshua Yu, David I. Bigio, Christopher Thomas, Tariq Rizvi Alam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Unattended, compact, terrestrial and space sensors require sources that have high energy and power densities to continuously operate for 3 to 99 years depending on application. Currently, chemical sources cannot fully satisfy these applications, especially in solid state form. Betavoltaic (βV) nuclear batteries using β--emitting radioisotopes possess energy densities 1000 times greater than conventional chemical sources. Their power density is a function of β- flux saturation point relative to the planar (2D) configuration, β- emission range, and the semiconductor converter, the betavoltaic (βV) cell, properties. The figure of merit is the beta (β-)-flux surface power density (Pβ− in μWn per cm2 footprint), where an optimal portion of incident beta particles penetrates the surrounding semiconductor depletion region. Tritiated nitroxides are favorable radioisotope sources with the potential to have the highest specific activity (Am in Ci/g) and Pβ− for an organic compound in solid form
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)93-103
JournalDefault journal
StatePublished - Feb 1 2019

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