THE RADIOISOTOPIC BATTERY BASED ON RADIO-VOLTAIC EFFECT

The radio-voltaic effect is investigated to be applied radioisotopic b atteries in this work. The collection rates of the electron-hole pairs are 94 percent for the alpha particles emitted by Pu-239 source and 6 5 percent for the beta particles emitted by Sr-96-Y-90 source, The max imum energy conversion efficiency got by the silicon element is about 16%. A prototype radioisotopic battery with Pm-147 beta sources is con structed. Its maximum short-circuit current and off voltage are about 2 mu A and 190 mV respectively. The experimental data suggest that the life of the prototype battery may be more than three years.