Radiation-resistant beta-photovoltaic battery using Ce-doped Gd3Ga3Al2O12 single-crystal scintillator

Abstract

A radiation-resistant nuclear battery combining betavoltaic and photovoltaic techniques was demonstrated using Ce-doped Gd3Ga3Al2O12 single-crystal scintillator. The present device comprising 1 mm thick Ce-doped GGAG single-crystal scintillator and Si-based p–i–n diode produced an electric power output of 48 nW with a short-circuit current of 490 nA and an open-circuit voltage of 0.18 V using a 3 mCi 106Ru source. Long-term radiation stability test carried out for more than 4000 h revealed that there was no significant reduction in the output of beta-photovoltaic device (with scintillator), whereas there was 68% reduction in the output power for the betavoltaic device (without scintillator). The electron beam irradiation of 1 mm thick Ce-doped GGAG scintillator up to a dose level of 5 MGy using 10 MeV electron beam indicated a power degradation by 4% suggesting a reasonably long battery life (∼15 years) with 90Sr-90Y source.

Ce doping induced trapping states and local electronic structure modifications in SrZnO2 nanophosphors

“…Cerium-doped oxide materials have been extensively explored as scintillators, solid state lasers, radiation detectors/sensors etc. [1][2][3][4] Depending upon chosen experimental conditions, Ce may exhibit +3 and +4 charge states which indicates its utility for targeted applications. However, the presence of mixed valence states of Ce is known to introduce various trapping states in the material, knowledge of which is desirable to find practical applicability of such materials.…”

High Efficiency Formamidinium‐Cesium Perovskite‐Based Radio‐Photovoltaic Cells

“…[19] Additionally, some new inorganic phosphors and liquid scintillators with high light yield and strong radiation tolerance have been carried out to better match the spectral response of PV converters. [26][27][28] At present, the performance of RPV cells remains far behind the expectations in terms of power density and PCE, [15,29,30] because it is difficult to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the traditional PV converters at low-intensity illumination from the most commonly used phosphors, ranging from 1 lW cm À2 to 1 mW cm À2 . [13,14] Therefore, overcoming the bottleneck of the low photoelectric conversion efficiency of PV converters in dim light is the key to further improving the performance of RPV cells.…”

“…[ 19 ] Additionally, some new inorganic phosphors and liquid scintillators with high light yield and strong radiation tolerance have been carried out to better match the spectral response of PV converters. [ 26–28 ]…”