BETAVOLTAICS

CHAPTER -1

 INTRODUCTION
Batteries that harvest energy from the nuclear decay of isotopes can produce very
low levels of current and last for decades without needing to be replaced. A new
version of the batteries, called betavoltaics.

A common source used is the hydrogen isotope, tritium. Betavoltaics use non
thermal conversion process. While solar cells use semiconductors such as silicon to
capture energy from the photons in sunlight, betavoltaic cells use a semiconductor
to capture the energy in electrons produced during the nuclear decay of isotopes.
This type of nuclear decay is called “beta decay,” for the high-energy electrons,
called beta particles that it produces. The lifetimes of betavoltaic devices depend
on the half-lives, ranging from a few years to 100 years, of the radioisotopes that
power them.

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CHAPTER -2

 BETA PARTICLES

A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-
energy, high-speed There are two types of beta particles - beta minus (or just beta)
and its anti-particle, the beta plus. The beta minus is an electron. The beta plus is a
positron .emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus during the process
of beta decay. The charge of beta particle is -1.

Beta particles with an energy of 0.5 MeV have a range of about one metre in air;
the distance is dependent on the particle energy.

Beta particles are a type of ionizing radiation and for radiation protection purposes
are regarded as being more ionizing than gamma rays, but less ionizing than alpha
particles. The higher the ionizing effect, the greater the damage to living tissue.

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CHAPTER -3

 BETA PARTICLE FORMATION (RADIOACTIVE

IONIZATION)

When an atomic nucleus exhibits nuclear instability due to too many neutrons for
the number of protons or vice versa, that nucleus may undergo beta decay. When a
nucleus beta-decays, it emits two particles at the same time: One is a beta particle;
the other, a neutrino or antineutrino. With this emission, the nucleus itself
undergoes a transformation, changing from one element to another. In the case of
isotopes that β+-decay, each decaying nucleus emits a positron and a neutrino,
simultaneously reducing its atomic number by one unit; for those isotopes that β --
decay, each nucleus emits an electron and an antineutrino while increasing its
atomic number by one. In both classes of decay, the energy released by the nuclear
transformation is shared between the two emitted particles. Though the energy
released by a particular nuclear transformation is always the same, the fraction of
this energy carried away by the beta particle is different for each decaying nucleus.
(The neutrino always carries away the remainder, thus conserving energy overall.)

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CHAPTER -4

 BETA PARTICLE PROPERTIES

1) A beta (β) - particle carries 1.6 x 10-19 C of negative charge, which is the
charge on an electron.
2) The mass of β-particle is 9.1 x 10-31 kg, which is the same as that of electron.
3) The velocity of β-particles ranges from 33% to 99% of the velocity of light.
4) The β-particles ionize the gas through which they pass, but their ionizing
power is only 1/100th that of α-particles.
5) Because of small mass, the penetrating power of β-particles is very large.
6) The β-particles can also produce fluorescence in certain substance like
barium-plantinocyanide and zinc sulphide.
7) They affect a photographic plate.
8) They are deflected by electric and magnetic fields, showing that they carry
negative charge.

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CHAPTER -5

 BETA VOLTAIC BATTERY

Over the last fifty years, the driving force behind the development of betavoltaic
devices has been the need for reliable, long-lived, high energy density power
sources for operating electrical systems in hostile and inaccessible environments. It
is well established that conventional electrochemical batteries, despite their
widespread use in electronic devices, have limited longevity and a strong tendency
to degrade under extreme environmental conditions. [1] For situations where
battery replacement is inconvenient, such as in remote sensing applications in
space or aquatic environments, or potentially life threatening, such as in the case of
implantable biomedical prosthetic devices, alternatives to electrochemical battery
technologies are desired. [2] Betavoltaic power sources are one such alternative
that can be operated continuously, for years, in harsh environments to generate
electricity for low power applications.

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CHAPTER -6

 CONSTRUCTION
6.1 BETA EMITTER
A radioisotope which decays by emitting an electron particle. Beta emitters are
labelled as “soft” emitters if the electron is of low energy and has a short
penetration distance, or “hard” if it is high-energy and with a great penetrating
distance. Different beta emitters are strontium-90 tritium-90 yitrium-90.
6.2 PN JUNCTION DIODE
A p–n junction is a boundary or interface between two types of semiconductor
materials, p-type and n-type, inside a single crystal of semiconductor. The "p"
(positive) side contains an excess of holes, while the "n" (negative) side contains
an excess of electrons in the outer shells of the electrically neutral atoms there.
This allows electrical current to pass through the junction only in one direction.
The p-n junction is created by doping.

Betavoltaic devices are self contained power sources that convert high energy beta
(β) particles emitted from the decay of radioactive isotopes into electrical current.
As shown in Fig. , a typical betavoltaic device, in its simplest form, consists of a
layer of beta-emitting material placed adjacent to a semiconductor p-n junction or
Schottky diode.

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CHAPTER – 7

 WORKING
When the semiconductor material is bombarded by high energy beta particles,
electron-hole pairs are generated by impact ionization. As a beta particle penetrates
matter, it loses its energy in collisions with the constituent atoms. Two processes
are involved. First, the beta particle can transfer a small fraction of its energy to the
struck atom. Second, the beta particle is deflected from its original path by each
collision and, since any change in the velocity of a charged particle leads to the
emission of electromagnetic radiation, some of its energy is lost in the form of low-
energy x-rays (bremsstrahlung). Though the energy lost by a beta particle in a
single collision is very small. Since the average kinetic energy of typical beta
particles used for betavoltaic devices is in the kiloelectron volt (keV) range, a
single beta particle can be responsible for generating multiple electron-hole pairs.
electron-hole pairs that are beta-generated inside of or within a minority carrier
diffusion length of the depletion region are separated by the built-in electric field
and drifted apart .The accumulation of separated electron-hole pairs in depletion
regions of the semiconductor, electrons on the n-side and holes on the p-side,
results in the junction becoming forward biased and current flowing through an
externally connected load. betavoltaic devices are usually strictly limited to low
power applications. This is directly related to the fact that the typical flux of beta
particles emitted from a beta source is a minute fraction of the photon flux emitted
by the sun. As a result, betavoltaic devices typically generate currents on the order
of nano- to micro-amperes, which are several orders of magnitude smaller than
currents generated by similarly sized photovoltaic devices.

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CHAPTER -8

 SELECTING A BETA SOURCE

When selecting a beta source for a betavoltaic device, fluence rates and isotope
half-lifetimes are important aspects that must be considered. Obviously, utilizing
long half-lifetime isotopes that can generate sufficient beta particle fluxes is critical
to the design of long-lasting betavoltaic power sources. However, the effects of
radiation damage in the semiconductor material must also be taken into account.
Ideally, the maximum kinetic energy (Emax) of the beta particles emitted from the
beta source should be smaller than the radiation damage threshold of the material
(Eth). [2] Otherwise, the emitted beta particles would have sufficient energy to
displace atoms in the semiconductor lattice. Radiation induced defects in the
semiconductor material can result in shortened minority carrier diffusion lengths,
increased leakage currents, and overall device performance degradation.

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CHAPTER – 9
9.1ADVANTAGES
1) Life span minimum of decades.
2) Do not rely on nuclear reaction so no radio active waste.
3) Reliable electricity
4) Amount of energy obtained is very high
5) Less waste generation
6) using betavoltaics to trickle-charge conventional batteries in consumer
devices, such as cell phones and laptop computers
7) Lighter with high energy density.
8) Less waste generation.
9) Reduces green house and associated effects.

9.2DISADVANTAGES
1) High cost of production as it is in experimental stage.
2) For practical devices, this decrease occurs over a period of many years.
3) Energy conservation methodologies are not much advanced.
4) To gain social acceptance.
5) Regional and country specific laws regarding laws and disposal of
radioactive fuel.

9.3 APPLICATIONS
1) For situations where battery replacement is inconvenient, such as in remote
sensing applications in space or aquatic environments.
2) cell N nuclear powered beta laptop battery that provide 7-8 thousand times
the life of a normal battery.
3) Cardiac pacemakers
4) In space ,for satellites n space shuttles as continuous power supply is
required .

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CHAPTER -10
 Future scope

The future promise of betavoltaics might be in very cheap sensors embedded in

buildings and bridges where “you don’t ever want to change the battery,”
says Amit Lal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell
University. However, this would require companies such as Widetronix to move to
longer half-life materials, such as nickel isotopes that last 100 years. While tritium
has a half-life of only 12.3 years, one of its chief advantages, besides safety, is that
it can be secured cheaply from Canadian nuclear reactors that produce heavy water
as a by-product. Longer half-life isotopes such as nickel-63 must be purchased
abroad at high prices. “Since the end of the Cold War, there is no government
support for radioisotope infrastructure in the United States,” says Lal. “Making
batteries that last forever is probably good reason to build that infrastructure.

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CHAPTER -11

 Conclusion
This paper is aimed at reducing the heavy power and revenue losses that occur due
to normal batteries by the customers. By this design it can be concluded that beta
voltaic battery can be used in remote places and has futuristic applications. The
ability of the proposed system to supply continuous power without interruption till
decades and it also focuses on compact designing of the batteries. The proposed
system provides the solution for some of the main problems faced by the existing
normal batteries, such as need of charging, harmful for environment, and problem
of disposal due to lead content.

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CHAPTER – 12

 REFERNCES

1. www.wikipedia.com/betavoltaics

2. A 25-Year Battery: Long-lived nuclear batteries powered by hydrogen isotopes are in

testing for military applications, Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review, MIT, 17 Nov
2009.
3. ^ NASA Glenn Research Center, Alpha- and Beta-voltaics (accessed Oct. 4, 2011)
4. ^ "Review and Preview of Nuclear Battery Technology". large.stanford.edu.
Retrieved 2018-09-30.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Olsen, L.C. (December 1973). "Betavoltaic energy conversion". Energy
Conversion. Elsevier Ltd. 13 (4): 117–124, IN1, 125–127. doi:10.1016/0013-
7480(73)90010-7.
6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
7. ^ Irving, Michael (June 3, 2018). "Russian scientists pack more power into nuclear
battery prototype". newatlas.com. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
8. ^ "betavoltaic.co.uk". Retrieved 21 February 2016.
9. ^ Maher, George (October 1991). "Battery Basics". County Commissions, North Dakota
State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture. North Dakota State University.
Retrieved August 29, 2011.
10. ^ Edwards, Rob (29 November 2007). "Tritium hazard rating 'should be
doubled'". NewScientist.

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