[FRIAM] diamond doping

[glen]

Sabine thinks it's "plausible enough":

https://youtu.be/MQtVv1eQki4?si=wBCwORk5AWFis6Fy:
> A Chinese company has announced they're planning to mass produce tiny nuclear batteries that can last up to 50 years, possibly beating both a British and an American company who've tried to put those on the market for several years. What does this mean? Will we soon all power our phones with nuclear power? Let's have a look. We tend to think of radioactive material primarily as dangerous, and that's for good reasons, but that it's radiating also means that it's emitting energy. Radiative materials, therefore, make for great batteries. If you use a material with a long half-life, nuclear batteries could last thousands of years without having to recharge. The idea isn't new, especially for medical devices where battery replacements are a health hazard. Already in the 1970s, pacemakers were equipped with plutonium-powered batteries. Some of them still run today. Newer devices use lithium batteries that have to be replaced once in a decade or so, but nuclear power is currently enjoying a strong comeback as an environmentally friendly source of energy. A few companies are producing nuclear batteries powered by tritium decay, but at the moment they're used primarily for scientific or medical purposes rather than for the consumer market. It's because they produce very little power in the range of nanowatts or microwatts. Just for comparison, your phone needs a few watts at least. So these batteries are not replacements for the batteries that you're used to. They're good to deliver low power, but for very long time. There's a market for this, but it's a small one.  In the past years, we've repeatedly seen headlines about startups who want to bring more and bigger nuclear batteries on the market. Notably, there's the British company Arkinlight, formed by researchers at the University of Bristol. They said they wanted to bring small nuclear batteries on the market by 2024, using carbon-14 in the range of up to 200 microwatts.  That's on the high end of nuclear batteries, but still very little compared to what most devices need. Their website seems to have gone missing last year. Then there's the American company Nanodiamond batteries that made a lot of headlines a few years ago by claiming they can produce batteries that last more than 20,000 years from nuclear waste. A few months ago, charges of fraud were raised against them. The claim is that the company deceived investors by pretending to have tested technology that didn't exist. So the half-life of that company was somewhat shorter than expected. But just exactly what technology are these companies working on?  Batteries powered by nuclear decay come in two different types. The one is to use radioactive substance to generate heat and then use the difference in temperature between two places to generate a current. This is known as a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The technology for this was first developed in the 1950s and 60s by the Air Forces in the United States and the former Soviet Union. Back then, they were looking for a reliable and long-lasting power source for space missions, particularly those exploring environments where solar power isn't available.  At least that's what they said was the reason they were developing these things. Pretty sure they came in handy for other purposes too. Would you like a nuclear battery with your summon?  Whatever the motivation to develop nuclear batteries, they've since been used in many space missions. Also, the European Space Agency has recently given up its opposition to using nuclear batteries. This is probably in no small part because of what happened with the fillet probe that landed on a comet in 2014 as part of the Rosetta mission. It had a rough touchdown, hopped a few times and landed in the shadow. After three days, its batteries, which were supposed to recharge and solar power, died. And that was the premature end of a very expensive mission. ESA is now planning to use a nuclear-powered spacecraft for its organoid, moon-lender schedule to launch in the early 2030s. But while the technology for these radioisotope thermoelectric generators is well understood, they tend to be quite big. Also, the detour through a temperature gradient is rather inefficient if what you want to do is to generate electricity.  If electricity is what you want, a better solution is to use semiconductors in which the generation of electricity is driven by nuclear decay. The new battery put forward by the Chinese company is of that type and so are the ones by the British and American companies. These types of batteries are called alphavoltaic, betavoltaic or gammavoltaic batteries, depending on whether they use radioactive alpha, beta or gamma decay. Just as a quick reminder, alpha decay means that a large nucleus spits out chunks with two neutrons and protons, which are helium nuclei. Beta decay means the nucleus spits out electrons and gamma decay means that the nucleus spits out photons.  The Chinese company uses beta decay and calls itself betavolta after that.  They use nickel 63, which has a half-life of roughly 100 years, and layer it between diamond semiconductors with a PN junction. This sounds kind of technical, and I guess it is.  But maybe it helps to know that this semiconductor stuff is the same type of material that's normally used in solar cells. In the solar cells, it's in falling light that creates a current.  For the nuclear battery, it's not in falling light, but the electrons emitted in the beta decay that create the current. The company Betavolta won third prize for their battery in a recent innovation competition by the China National Nuclear Cooperation. The technology itself isn't new, but the push to the consumer market is. The company's first product is called the BV100 battery. It has a power of 100 microwatts and a voltage of 3 volts. It has about the same size as the typical cell battery. The power is somewhat lower than what the British company is aiming at, but the voltage they quote is somewhat higher. So the Chinese battery looks plausible enough, but like the other nuclear batteries, it's probably going to remain in niche technology for low power devices that need to last a long time. It's a shame because if you had a phone battery that lasted 20,000 years, you could watch all my videos in one go. Many thanks to our sponsors on Patreon, especially those of you in tier 4 and higher. This channel would not be possible without your help. And you too can help us. Go check out our Patreon page or support us right here on YouTube by clicking on the join button below. Thanks for watching. See you
> tomorrow.
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On 1/10/24 07:14, glen wrote:
> I've been tricked before. Is this true? I find plenty of hits on diamond doping and β-based batteries. And the Sri Lanka Guardian seems like a credible source. But I can't help but doubt claims from https://www.betavolt.tech/
> 
> https://slguardian.org/chinese-firm-developed-nuclear-battery-that-can-produce-power-for-50-years/
>> Betavolt, however, has taken a different technical approach. They have developed a unique semiconductor made of single-crystal diamond capable of generating a current through the β particles (electrons) emitted from the radioactive source nickel-63. By placing a 2 micrometer-thick nickel-63 thin film between two diamond semiconductor converters, the decay energy of the radioactive source can be converted into electrical current, creating an independent modular unit.
> 
> https://www.betavolt.tech/359485-359485_645066.html via Google Translate
>> Beijing Betavolt New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announced on January 8 that it has successfully developed a miniature atomic energy battery. This product combines nickel 63 nuclear isotope decay technology and China's first diamond semiconductor (4th generation semiconductor) module to successfully realize the miniaturization of atomic energy batteries. , modularization and low cost, starting the process of civilian use. This marks that China has achieved disruptive innovation in the two high-tech fields of atomic energy batteries and fourth-generation diamond semiconductors at the same time, putting it "way ahead" of European and American scientific research institutions and enterprises.
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>> Betavolt atomic energy batteries can generate electricity stably and autonomously for 50 years without the need for charging or maintenance. They have entered the pilot stage and will be put into mass production on the market. Betavolt atomic energy batteries can meet the needs of long-lasting power supply in multiple scenarios such as aerospace, AI equipment, medical equipment, MEMS systems, advanced sensors, small drones and micro robots. This new energy innovation will help China gain a leading edge in the new round of AI technological revolution.
>>
>> Atomic energy batteries, also known as nuclear batteries or radioisotope batteries, work on the principle of utilizing the energy released by the decay of nuclear isotopes and converting it into electrical energy through semiconductor converters. This was a high-tech field that the United States and the Soviet Union focused on in the 1960s. Currently, there are only thermonuclear batteries used in aerospace. This kind of battery is large in size and weight, has high internal temperatures, is expensive, and cannot be used by civilians. In recent years, miniaturization, modularization and civilian use of nuclear batteries have been the goals and directions pursued by European and American countries. China's "14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision Goals" also propose that the civilianization of nuclear technology and the multi-purpose development of nuclear isotopes are future development trends.
>>
>> Betavoltaic nuclear batteries develop a completely different technological approach, generating electric current through the semiconductor transition of beta particles (electrons) emitted by the radioactive source nickel-63. To do this, Betavolt's team of scientists developed a unique single-crystal diamond semiconductor that is just 10 microns thick, placing a 2-micron-thick nickel-63 sheet between two diamond semiconductor converters. The decay energy of the radioactive source is converted into an electrical current, forming an independent unit. Nuclear batteries are modular and can be composed of dozens or hundreds of independent unit modules and can be used in series and parallel, so battery products of different sizes and capacities can be manufactured.
>>
>> Zhang Wei, chairman and CEO of Betavolt, said that the first product the company will launch is BV100, which is the world's first nuclear battery to be mass-produced. The power is 100 microwatts, the voltage is 3V, and the volume is 15 X 15 X 5 Cubic millimeters are smaller than a coin. Nuclear batteries generate electricity every minute, 8.64 joules per day, and 3153 joules per year. Multiple such batteries can be used in series and parallel. The company plans to launch a battery with a power of 1 watt in 2025. If policies permit, atomic energy batteries can allow a mobile phone to never be charged, and drones that can only fly for 15 minutes can fly continuously.
>>
>> According to reports, the atomic energy battery is a physical battery, not an electrochemical battery. Its energy density is more than 10 times that of ternary lithium batteries. It can store 3,300 megawatt hours in a 1-gram battery. It will not catch fire or explode in response to acupuncture and gunshots. Because it generates self-generated electricity for 50 years, there is no concept of the number of cycles of an electrochemical battery (2,000 charges and discharges). The power generation of atomic energy batteries is stable and will not change due to harsh environments and loads. It can work normally within the range of 120 degrees above zero and -60 degrees below zero, and has no self-discharge. The atomic energy battery developed by Betavolt is absolutely safe, has no external radiation, and is suitable for use in medical devices such as pacemakers, artificial hearts and cochleas in the human body. Atomic energy batteries are environmentally friendly. After the decay 
>> period, the nickel-63 isotope as the radioactive source becomes a stable isotope of copper, which is non-radioactive and does not pose any threat or pollution to the environment. Therefore, unlike existing chemical batteries, nuclear batteries do not require expensive recycling processes.
>>
>> Currently, Betavolt has registered a patent in Beijing and will begin to register global PCT patents. In the 2023 Innovation Competition held by China National Nuclear Corporation, Betavolt, as one of the very few external participating companies, stood out among hundreds of companies and research institutions and won the third prize in the competition. It represents China's authoritative nuclear technology companies' investment in Betavolt. Recognition of atomic energy battery technology and products. Betavolt has also communicated with China's professional nuclear research institutions and universities, and plans to continue research on using isotopes such as strontium-90, promethium-147 and deuterium to develop atomic energy batteries with higher power and a service life of 2 to 30 years.
>>
>> Zhang Wei said that the core of Betavolt atomic energy battery is the fourth generation diamond semiconductor, which is the ultimate semiconductor material well known in the industry and another high ground in the global semiconductor field technology competition. Betavolt is currently the only company in the world that can dope large-size diamond semiconductor materials. High-efficiency diamond converters are the key to manufacturing nuclear batteries. Betavolt is not only a new energy company, but also a fourth-generation semiconductor and ultra-long carbon nanotube new material company. Nuclear batteries, diamond semiconductors and supercapacitors are the three major technologies and materials that are linked and integrated to form Betavolt's core technology and innovation capabilities.
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