Betavoltaic microbatteries using porous silicon

In this paper, we present a new type of betavoltaic microbattery using porous silicon pn junction device. Investigations are made on using high energy radioisotopes as the source and mechanisms of increased energy bandgap and electron trapping in porous silicon for increasing power output and energy conversion efficiency. The device is fabricated and experimental result shows that this new type of microbattery is a promising technology for developing nuclear microbatteries with the increased power output and conversion efficiency.

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