http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaicshttp://www.rexresearch.com/nucell/nucell.htmThe end result is that the potential difference provides no net input; it only provides a constant voltage, while the radioactive source acts as a constant current generator. The ground state E0 is a constant and the energy out E3 is equal to the energy in less the ionization energy E1 and the losses, L1 and L2. Then the energy balance is:
E0 = EB - E1 - E3 - L1 -L2
This suggests that the junction has as low an ionization potential as possible.
In conclusion, it can be shown that the introduction of ions from any source into an electric field will generate electricity in accordance with well known physical and chemical principles and may be satisfactorily explained in terms commonly used in describing a Voltaic cell The energy does not come from the ions themselves, but rather from the work done to generate ions.
Neither the electric field, the electrode or the medium between the electrodes contribute any energy in the Voltaic Effect. The energy is contributed by the ion generator; whether this mechanism is chemical, electromagnetic or nuclear is irrelevant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_batteryDirect charging generators
In the first type, the primary generator consists of a capacitor which is charged by the current of charged particles from a radioactive layer deposited on one of the electrodes. Spacing can be either vacuum or dielectric. Negatively charged beta particles or positively charged alpha particles, positrons or fission fragments may be utilized. Although this form of nuclear-electric generator dates back to 1913, few applications have been found in the past for the extremely low currents and inconveniently high voltages provided by direct charging generators. Oscillator/transformer systems are employed to reduce the voltages, then rectifiers are used to transform the AC power back to direct current.
English physicist H.G.J. Moseley constructed the first of these. Moseley’s apparatus consisted of a glass globe silvered on the inside with a radium emitter mounted on the tip of a wire at the center. The charged particles from the radium created a flow of electricity as they moved quickly from the radium to the inside surface of the sphere. As late as 1945 the Moseley model guided other efforts to build experimental batteries generating electricity from the emissions of radioactive elements.
[edit]Betavoltaics
Main article: Betavoltaics
Betavoltaics are generators of electrical current, in effect a form of battery, which use energy from a radioactive source emitting beta particles (electrons). A common source used is the hydrogen isotope, tritium. Unlike most nuclear power sources, which use nuclear radiation to generate heat, which then generates electricity (thermoelectric and thermionic sources), betavoltaics use a non-thermal conversion process, using a semiconductor p-n junction.
Betavoltaics are particularly well-suited to low-power electrical applications where long life of the energy source is needed, such as implantable medical devices or military and space applications.
