Possible Way To Industrial Production of Nickel-63 and the Prospects of Its Use

摘要

Nickel-63 (a pure beta-emitter with a half-life of 100 years) is one of the most promising radionuclides that can be used in miniature autonomous electric power sources with a service life of above 30 years (nuclear batteries) working on the betavoltaic effect. This effect is analogous to the photoelectric effect, with the difference that electron-hole pairs are produced in a semiconductor with p-n-transition under the action of beta-particles rather than optical radiation.