Title :
GaN betavoltaic energy converters
Author :
Honsberg, Christiana ; Doolittle, William A. ; Allen, Mark ; Wang, Chris
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Delaware Univ., Newark, DE, USA
Abstract :
Semiconductor betavoltaic converters use energy from radioisotope sources to generate electricity for remote applications requiring power for 5-50 years. To be competitive with thermoelectric devices, they must achieve an efficiency above 20%. This paper presents the design rules and efficiency calculations for such high efficiency GaN betavoltaic converters, and experimentally demonstrates the radiation tolerance of GaN.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; direct energy conversion; gallium compounds; wide band gap semiconductors; 5 to 50 year; GaN; GaN betavoltaic energy converters; efficiency calculation; generate electricity; radiation tolerance; radioisotope sources; thermoelectric devices; Beta rays; Degradation; Energy conversion; Gallium nitride; Isotopes; Photovoltaic cells; Power generation; Radioactive materials; Thermoelectric devices; Thermoelectricity;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2005. Conference Record of the Thirty-first IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8707-4
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2005.1488079
