Isotope Generated Electron Density in Silicon Carbide Direct Energy Converters

Abstract

SiC has been investigated for use as a direct energy converter (DEC) for nuclear batteries. A solid-state model is being developed to calculate the electrical output of a diode into a resistively loaded circuit. This paper describes the use of a nuclear scattering code (MCNPX) to calculate the increased electron density that would be expected in a SiC material based on exposure to a Sr90 beta emitter. An incident beta (average 125 keV) generates on the order of 27k free electrons/cc per incident Sr90 electron. For each incident electron, and average of 9 keV is deposited in the SiC. The results of this effort will be fed into the Schottky device numerical model to calculate the predicted power from the device.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA458321

Entities

People

  • Kara Blaine
  • Mark Litz

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Carbides
  • Ceramic Materials
  • Compound Semiconductors
  • Converters
  • Electron Density
  • Electron Energy
  • Electrons
  • Energy
  • Free Electrons
  • Geometry
  • Materials
  • Nuclear Scattering
  • Radioisotope Batteries
  • Scattering
  • Semiconductors
  • Silicon
  • Silicon Carbide

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Solar Physics

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics