Mass production method of loading radioisotopes into radiovoltaics
A method of producing an integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery, the method comprising exposing at least a portion of an electronically functional, unactivated integrated circuit-type battery to radiation to convert transmutable material in the unactivated battery to a radioisotope thereby producing an active cell and thus the integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery.
1. A method of producing an integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery, the method comprising exposing at least a portion of an electronically functional, unactivated integrated circuit-type battery that is either on a substrate or comprises the substrate, wherein the unactivated integrated circuit-type battery comprises an unactivated cell that comprises:
a conversion device for converting energy from decay products of a radioisotope into electrical energy capable of performing work; and
a non-radioactive, transmutable material associated with the conversion device, wherein the transmutable material is located in one or more of the following: a layer in contact with the conversion device; the substrate; and the conversion device;
to radiation to transmute at least a portion of the transmutable material to a radioisotope thereby producing an active cell, wherein the energy from the decay products of the radioisotope material are converted by the conversion device into electrical energy capable of performing work, thereby producing the integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmutable material, the radiation, the radioisotope, and the decay products are selected from one or more of the reactions set forth in the following table:
Transmutable
Decay
Material
+
Radiation
→
Radioisotope
Products
63 Cu
+
deuteron or
→
64 Cu
β particles,
neutron
γ rays
64 Ni
+
proton
→
64 Cu
β particles,
γ rays
62 Ni
+
neutron
→
63 Ni
β particles
6 Li
+
neutron
→
3 H
β particles
146 Nd
+
neutron
→
147 Pm
β particles,
( 146 Nd is transmuted to 147 Nd,
γ rays
which beta decays to 147 Pm)
209 Bi
+
neutron
→
210 Po
α particles,
( 209 Bi is transmuted to 210 Bi,
γ rays
which beta decays to 210 Po)
31 P
+
neutron
→
32 P, 33 P
β particles
45 Sc
+
deuteron or
→
46 Sc
β particles,
neutron
γ rays
44 Ca
+
deuteron or
→
45 Ca
β particles,
neutron
γ rays
88 Sr
+
deuteron or
→
89 Sr, 90 Sr
β particles,
neutron
γ rays
89 Y
+
deuteron
→
90 Y
β particles,
γ rays
150Sm
+
deuteron or
→
151 Sm
β particles,
neutron
γ rays
203 Tl
+
deuteron
→
204 Tl
β particles
204 Hg
+
deuteron
→
204 Tl
β particles
209 Bi
+
deuteron
→
208 Po, 210 Po
α particles,
γ rays
209 Bi
+
proton
→
208 Po
α particles,
γ rays
148 Sm
+
deuteron
→
148 Eu
β particles,
γ rays,
α particles
148 Sm
+
deuteron
→
148 Gd
α particles
( 148 Sm is transmuted to 148 Eu,
which beta decays to 148 Gd)
110 Pd
+
deuteron or
→
110 Ag, 111 Ag
β particles,
proton
γ rays
109 Ag
+
deuteron or
→
110 Ag
β particles,
neutron
γ rays
124 Sn
+
Deuteron
→
124 Sb, 125 Sb
β particles,
or proton
γ rays
59 Co
+
deuteron or
→
60 Co
β particles,
neutron
γ rays.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the transmutable material and the radiation are selected to yield a β-emitting or an α-emitting radioisotope.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the substrate is a large band gap semiconductor material selected from the group consisting of TiO 2 , Si, SiC, GaN, GaAs, ZnO, WO 3 , SnO 2 , SrTiO 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , CdS, ZnS, CdSe, GaP, MoS 2 , ZnS, ZrO 2 , and Ce 2 O 3 , and combinations thereof.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the conversion device is a direct conversion device that comprises a first electrode, a second electrode, and a rectifying junction-containing component between and in ohmic contact with the first and second electrodes;
at least a portion of the transmutable material that is transmuted to the radioisotope is located in the first electrode, the second electrode, the rectifying junction-containing component, or a combination thereof;
each of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises an ohmic metal or metalloid that is independently selected from the group consisting of Al, Ag, Ti, Ni, Au, Fe, Cr, Pt, Pb, Mo, Cu, and highly doped silicon, alloys thereof, and combinations of the foregoing elements and/or alloys; and
the rectifying junction-containing component comprises a semiconductor p-n rectifying junction or a Schottky rectifying junction.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the rectifying junction-containing component comprises a semiconductor p-n rectifying junction formed by the contact of a p-doped Si layer and n-doped Si layer.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the direct conversion device comprises a Schottky rectifying junction formed by the contact of a Schottky metal layer in rectifying contact with a Schottky semiconductor, wherein the Schottky semiconductor is either the substrate or a Schottky semiconductor layer, wherein the Schottky metal is selected from the group consisting of Pt, Au, Pd, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, Ag, Ti, Ru, Cu, Mo, Ir, and Rh, alloys thereof, and combinations of the foregoing metallic elements and/or alloys.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unactivated integrated circuit-type battery further comprises shielding, which allows for transmission of the transmuting radiation but reduces or prevents transmission of the decay products of the radioisotope, and wherein the shielding is free or essentially free of a radioisotope and materials capable of transmuting to a radioisotope by the exposure to the radiation.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unactivated integrated circuit-type battery comprises a multiplicity of unactivated cells that are essentially identical and activated by the exposure to the radiation, wherein the unactivated integrated circuit-type battery is on the substrate and the multiplicity of unactivated cells are in a stacked arrangement and connected in series, in parallel, or a combination thereof.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least portions of a multiplicity of the unactivated integrated circuit-type batteries are exposed to the radiation to transmute at least portions of the transmutable materials associated with each unactivated cell of each unactivated integrated circuit-type battery to the radioisotopes thereby producing each active cell of each active radioisotope battery thereby yielding a multiplicity of active radioisotope batteries that are connected in series, in parallel, or a combination thereof.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein each unactivated battery is in electrical connection with one or more integrated circuits on the substrate and, upon being exposed to the radiation, the electrical energy capable of performing work from the active batteries allows for operation of the one or more integrated circuits,
wherein the one or more integrated circuits are shielded from the radiation by layer comprising a transmutable material that absorbs all or substantially all of the radiation, and
wherein the exposure of at least a portion of each unactivated battery is accomplished via selective irradiation which limits radiation exposure to selected portion(s) of each unactivated battery, wherein the selective irradiation is accomplished by one or more of the following:
controlling the cross-sectional area of the radiation contacting the unactivated batteries;
controlling the trajectory of the radiation;
controlling the relative positions of the source of the radiation and the selected portion(s) of the unactivated batteries; and
placing one or more shadowmasks between the radiation source and the unactivated batteries.
12. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 1 .
13. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 2 .
14. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 4 .
15. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 5 .
16. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 7 .
17. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 8 .
18. An integrated circuit-type active radioisotope battery produced by the method of claim 9 .
19. A multiplicity of integrated circuit-type active radioisotope batteries produced by the method of claim 10 .
20. A multiplicity of integrated circuit-type active radioisotope batteries produced by the method of claim 11 .