DESIGNING CVD DIAMOND BETAVOLTAIC BATTERIES

Nowadays there is a renewed interest towards the development of innovative energy production devices for small consumption, to be used in harsh environments whose added value could be a very long operative lifetime (i.e. aerospace, medical, portable electronics). The exploitation of energy contained in long half-lives radioactive sources using a stable, resistant solid-state converter material like diamond could be an appealing solution. Diamond is a wide band-gap semiconductor characterized by exceptional physical properties and represents the appropriate material for applications involving the use of intense beams of high-energy (hv) radiation and electrons. At present we are designing devices for the conversion of high-energy radiation into electrical power. Specifically, the efforts are focused on the interaction between diamond and beta particles, which can be accurately simulated by an electron beam produced by a SEM system. The research activity is centred on designing and optimizing vacuum secondary-electron-emission (SEE) converters and probing the maximum obtainable energy conversion efficiency. The experimental results indicate values close to 1% for electron beams of 1 keV and about 0.4% at 1.5 keV.