A diamond gammavoltaic cell utilizing surface conductivity and its response to different photon interaction mechanisms

G R Mackenzie; S Kaluvan; P G Martin; C Hutson; T Connolley; M Cattelan; H Dominguez-Andrade; T L Martin; N A Fox; T B Scott

doi:10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100688

A diamond gammavoltaic cell utilizing surface conductivity and its response to different photon interaction mechanisms

G R Mackenzie, S Kaluvan, P G Martin, C Hutson, T Connolley, M Cattelan, H Dominguez-Andrade, T L Martin, N A Fox, T B Scott

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Abstract

This paper presents a diamond gammavoltaic cell—a solid-state device that converts gamma radiation into electricity—with a novel design and promising capabilities. Gammavoltaics pose a unique challenge among radiovoltaics due to the highly penetrating nature of gamma rays. To adapt existing radiovoltaic and dosimeter designs by increasing their thickness risks throttling the flowing current due to an attendant increase in series resistance. The presented design partially decouples this relationship by creating a low-coverage hydrogen-terminated collection volume around the device, exploiting the transfer doping effect. This paper proves that hydrogen termination is necessary for the gammavoltaism exhibited. Data are then presented from current-voltage curves taken using synchrotron radiation over the range 50-150 keV. A drop in the series resistance over the range is discovered and linked to the transition from the photoelectric effect to Compton scattering. The cell produces an open-circuit voltage VOC = 0.8 V. Its short-circuit current ISC and maximum power Pmax are found to also depend on photon energy, reaching maxima at ∼150 keV, where ISC > 10 μA and Pmax > 3 μW, normalized in flux to 2 × 1011 γ.s−1. Groundwork is hence laid for developing this type of cell for micropower applications.

Original language	English
Article number	100688
Number of pages	9
Journal	Materials Today Energy
Volume	21
Early online date	18 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100688
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by funding provided by the EPSRC (Grant reference: EP/P017436/1 ) and by Sellafield Ltd. The authors wish to thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime ref: NT24685-1, which contributed data to this work. Acknowledgments must also go to T. Wallace-Smith, Y. Verbelen, I. Bickerton, and L. Pendleton for productive conversations, and to H. J. A. Wheaton for the before submission proofreading.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by funding provided by the EPSRC (Grant reference: EP/P017436/1) and by Sellafield Ltd. The authors wish to thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime ref: NT24685-1, which contributed data to this work. Acknowledgments must also go to T. Wallace-Smith, Y. Verbelen, I. Bickerton, and L. Pendleton for productive conversations, and to H. J. A. Wheaton for the before submission proofreading.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

semiconductor
photovoltaic
compton scattering
energy harvesting
nuclear waste management

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Accepted author manuscript, 1.09 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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A Diamond Gammavoltaic Cell
Mackenzie, G. R. (Author), Scott , T. B. (Supervisor) & Fox, N. A. (Supervisor), 9 May 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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title = "A diamond gammavoltaic cell utilizing surface conductivity and its response to different photon interaction mechanisms",

abstract = "This paper presents a diamond gammavoltaic cell—a solid-state device that converts gamma radiation into electricity—with a novel design and promising capabilities. Gammavoltaics pose a unique challenge among radiovoltaics due to the highly penetrating nature of gamma rays. To adapt existing radiovoltaic and dosimeter designs by increasing their thickness risks throttling the flowing current due to an attendant increase in series resistance. The presented design partially decouples this relationship by creating a low-coverage hydrogen-terminated collection volume around the device, exploiting the transfer doping effect. This paper proves that hydrogen termination is necessary for the gammavoltaism exhibited. Data are then presented from current-voltage curves taken using synchrotron radiation over the range 50-150 keV. A drop in the series resistance over the range is discovered and linked to the transition from the photoelectric effect to Compton scattering. The cell produces an open-circuit voltage VOC = 0.8 V. Its short-circuit current ISC and maximum power Pmax are found to also depend on photon energy, reaching maxima at ∼150 keV, where ISC > 10 μA and Pmax > 3 μW, normalized in flux to 2 × 1011 γ.s−1. Groundwork is hence laid for developing this type of cell for micropower applications.",

keywords = "semiconductor, photovoltaic, compton scattering, energy harvesting, nuclear waste management",

author = "Mackenzie, {G R} and S Kaluvan and Martin, {P G} and C Hutson and T Connolley and M Cattelan and H Dominguez-Andrade and Martin, {T L} and Fox, {N A} and Scott, {T B}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by funding provided by the EPSRC (Grant reference: EP/P017436/1 ) and by Sellafield Ltd. The authors wish to thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime ref: NT24685-1, which contributed data to this work. Acknowledgments must also go to T. Wallace-Smith, Y. Verbelen, I. Bickerton, and L. Pendleton for productive conversations, and to H. J. A. Wheaton for the before submission proofreading. Funding Information: This work was supported by funding provided by the EPSRC (Grant reference: EP/P017436/1) and by Sellafield Ltd. The authors wish to thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime ref: NT24685-1, which contributed data to this work. Acknowledgments must also go to T. Wallace-Smith, Y. Verbelen, I. Bickerton, and L. Pendleton for productive conversations, and to H. J. A. Wheaton for the before submission proofreading. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",

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AU - Mackenzie, G R

AU - Kaluvan, S

AU - Martin, P G

AU - Hutson, C

AU - Connolley, T

AU - Cattelan, M

AU - Dominguez-Andrade, H

AU - Martin, T L

AU - Fox, N A

AU - Scott, T B

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by funding provided by the EPSRC (Grant reference: EP/P017436/1 ) and by Sellafield Ltd. The authors wish to thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime ref: NT24685-1, which contributed data to this work. Acknowledgments must also go to T. Wallace-Smith, Y. Verbelen, I. Bickerton, and L. Pendleton for productive conversations, and to H. J. A. Wheaton for the before submission proofreading. Funding Information: This work was supported by funding provided by the EPSRC (Grant reference: EP/P017436/1) and by Sellafield Ltd. The authors wish to thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime ref: NT24685-1, which contributed data to this work. Acknowledgments must also go to T. Wallace-Smith, Y. Verbelen, I. Bickerton, and L. Pendleton for productive conversations, and to H. J. A. Wheaton for the before submission proofreading. Publisher Copyright: © 2021

PY - 2021/9/1

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N2 - This paper presents a diamond gammavoltaic cell—a solid-state device that converts gamma radiation into electricity—with a novel design and promising capabilities. Gammavoltaics pose a unique challenge among radiovoltaics due to the highly penetrating nature of gamma rays. To adapt existing radiovoltaic and dosimeter designs by increasing their thickness risks throttling the flowing current due to an attendant increase in series resistance. The presented design partially decouples this relationship by creating a low-coverage hydrogen-terminated collection volume around the device, exploiting the transfer doping effect. This paper proves that hydrogen termination is necessary for the gammavoltaism exhibited. Data are then presented from current-voltage curves taken using synchrotron radiation over the range 50-150 keV. A drop in the series resistance over the range is discovered and linked to the transition from the photoelectric effect to Compton scattering. The cell produces an open-circuit voltage VOC = 0.8 V. Its short-circuit current ISC and maximum power Pmax are found to also depend on photon energy, reaching maxima at ∼150 keV, where ISC > 10 μA and Pmax > 3 μW, normalized in flux to 2 × 1011 γ.s−1. Groundwork is hence laid for developing this type of cell for micropower applications.

AB - This paper presents a diamond gammavoltaic cell—a solid-state device that converts gamma radiation into electricity—with a novel design and promising capabilities. Gammavoltaics pose a unique challenge among radiovoltaics due to the highly penetrating nature of gamma rays. To adapt existing radiovoltaic and dosimeter designs by increasing their thickness risks throttling the flowing current due to an attendant increase in series resistance. The presented design partially decouples this relationship by creating a low-coverage hydrogen-terminated collection volume around the device, exploiting the transfer doping effect. This paper proves that hydrogen termination is necessary for the gammavoltaism exhibited. Data are then presented from current-voltage curves taken using synchrotron radiation over the range 50-150 keV. A drop in the series resistance over the range is discovered and linked to the transition from the photoelectric effect to Compton scattering. The cell produces an open-circuit voltage VOC = 0.8 V. Its short-circuit current ISC and maximum power Pmax are found to also depend on photon energy, reaching maxima at ∼150 keV, where ISC > 10 μA and Pmax > 3 μW, normalized in flux to 2 × 1011 γ.s−1. Groundwork is hence laid for developing this type of cell for micropower applications.

KW - semiconductor

KW - photovoltaic

KW - compton scattering

KW - energy harvesting

KW - nuclear waste management

U2 - 10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100688

DO - 10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100688

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

VL - 21

JO - Materials Today Energy

JF - Materials Today Energy

M1 - 100688

ER -

A diamond gammavoltaic cell utilizing surface conductivity and its response to different photon interaction mechanisms

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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A Diamond Gammavoltaic Cell

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