LIQUID-SEMICONDUCTOR-BASED MICRO POWER SOURCE USING RADIOISOTOPE ENERGY CONVERSION

摘要

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 (~(35)S) for direct power conversion. The radioisotope material is encapsulated with liquid semiconductor in a micromachined device. Experimental results show that maximum of 16.2nW can be harvested from the micromachined liquid semiconductor Schottky diode. A large open-circuit voltage of 899mV and short-circuit current of 0.107μA were also observed.