PNNL

Abstract

Betavoltaics (BV) cells (or nuclear batteries) have long-lasting power and high volumetric energy densities that open a broad range of applications which are not currently available, especially in low-power electronics for the internet-of-things, internal medical devices, and harsh environments. The introduction of very low-power electronics has opened up a market for the wide and accepted use of BV cells. As BVs have potentially decades-long useful lifetimes and are anticipated to be used in harsh environments, a method to describe accelerated contact aging has been developed. Monte Carlo radiation simulations show that energy can be deposited in the interface 10-50 times faster than real-world applications. Comparing these modeling results to accelerated aging experiments was used to develop methods for predicting performance degradation in operating BV devices from radiation damage over time.