14C diamond as energy converting material in betavoltaic battery: A first principles study

The application of radioactive semiconductors is a potential way to improve the performance of betavoltaic battery. The stability and band structure of decayed 14C diamond are investigated by density functional theory. After the decay, the 14C atoms are substituted by nitrogen atoms, and it can be s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:AIP advances 2023-11, Vol.13 (11), p.115314-115314-6
Main Authors: Li, Xiaoyi, Lu, Jingbin, Chen, Zhanguo, Liu, Xinrui, Liu, Yuxin, Zhang, Yu, Zhang, Yuehui, Tian, Fubo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Density functional theory
Diamonds
Energy gap
First principles
Lattice parameters
Nitrogen atoms
Schottky diodes
Short circuit currents
Structural stability
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The application of radioactive semiconductors is a potential way to improve the performance of betavoltaic battery. The stability and band structure of decayed 14C diamond are investigated by density functional theory. After the decay, the 14C atoms are substituted by nitrogen atoms, and it can be seen that the corresponding C63N1 and C62N2 structures have larger lattice constants and become more unstable. The C63N1 structure is a metallic system instead of an indirect bandgap semiconductor. Different C62N2 configurations have either metallic or indirect bandgap semiconductor properties, and the bandgaps are significantly lower than those of pure diamond. The 14C diamond–12C diamond betavoltaic battery switches between a pn-junction and p-type Schottky diode with higher short-circuit current.
ISSN:2158-3226
2158-3226
DOI:10.1063/5.0177302