Title :
MEMS Radioisotope-Powered Piezoelectric µ - Power Generator (RPG)
Author :
Duggirala, R. ; Polcawich, R. ; Zakar, E. ; Dubey, M. ; Li, H. ; Lal, A.
Author_Institution :
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
Abstract :
We present a microfabricated die-scale Radioisotope-powered Piezoelectric µ -power Generator (RPG) with nuclear to electrical conversion efficiency as high as 3.7%. The generator employs direct charging to convert radiated β-particle kinetic energy into stored electromechanical energy in a piezoelectric unimorph, and piezoelectricity to convert the stored mechanical energy into extractable electrical energy. The generator goes through a charge-discharge-vibrate cycle, integrating the energy collected during the charging phase. This enables high power output (1.13 µ W peak across a 90 kΩ load impedance) for a short time (10 s) during the vibration cycle, even with radioactive film emitting only 100 nW of continuous power.
Keywords :
Batteries; Fuels; Kinetic energy; Mechanical energy; Micromechanical devices; Nuclear power generation; Piezoelectric films; Power generation; Radioactive materials; Transistors;
Conference_Titel :
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2006. MEMS 2006 Istanbul. 19th IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Istanbul, Turkey
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-9475-5
DOI :
10.1109/MEMSYS.2006.1627744