Liquid / gaseous source-based three-dimensional array structure radiophosphoroscope

Abstract

The application discloses a three-dimensional array structure radiation-induced fluorescence isotope battery based on a liquid / gaseous source, wherein the scintillation crystals are distributed in a columnar array structure and are prepared through a reflection layer on the surface of the crystals to realize directional emission of radiation-induced fluorescence photons; the gaps between the scintillation crystal arrays are filled with isotopic sources, and the width of the gap position is set as the optimal loading thickness of the radioactive source; an anti-reflection layer is prepared at the bottom of the transparent waveguide to enable effective emission of the photons; the metal shell is tightly bonded with the transparent waveguide to seal the liquid isotopic source and the scintillation crystal array to form a radiation-induced fluorescence assembly; and the optical coupling layer is filled between the photovoltaic unit and the radiation-induced fluorescence assembly to reduce the loss of photon energy. The three-dimensional coupling structure of the source and the fluorescence layer is adopted to increase the collision interface of the decay particles and the fluorescence layer, increase the reaction specific surface area, efficiently utilize the particles emitted in all directions of the source, realize directional emission of the radiation-induced fluorescence photons, improve the radiation-induced fluorescence power density, and practically improve the energy conversion efficiency and application value of the isotope battery.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of isotope batteries, and in particular to a three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope battery based on liquid / gaseous source terms. BACKGROUND

[0002] Isotope batteries, also known as nuclear batteries, are energy conversion devices that convert the energy-carrying particles or decay heat generated by the decay of a radioactive isotope source into electrical output in a direct or indirect manner. Due to its long service life, high energy density, strong environmental adaptability and other advantages, it has wide application potential and profound strategic significance as a power module for electronic devices in extreme, harsh and complex environments.

[0003] In March 1896, Henri Becquerel first observed the phenomenon of radioluminescence using a naturally radioactive double uranium sulfate potassium salt. He indirectly observed the particles generated by the decay of a radioactive isotope and proved the feasibility of converting radiation energy into light energy. Subsequently, this research was further developed and expanded into the field of micro energy sources, and a radioluminescent isotope battery was developed.

[0004] In 2017, Johnny Russo and others from the U.S. Army Laboratory and the University of Maryland used a liquid 63 NiCl2 source term was mixed with ZnS:Cu, Al fluorescent powder, and an InGaP photovoltaic unit was coupled at the back end to produce a three-dimensional coupling mode radioluminescent isotope battery, which proposed an efficient energy utilization mode for isotope source terms (Russo J, Litz M, Ray W, et al. A radioluminescent nuclear battery using volumetric configuration: 63Nisolution / ZnS:Cu,Al / InGaP[J].Applied Radiation and Isotopes,2017,130:66-74.); In 2021, the team led by Tang Xiaobin at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics used an equivalent isotope source from an electron accelerator beam to discover and demonstrate the relationship between the overall energy conversion efficiency of isotope batteries and the activity density of the source term. They proposed that by increasing the energy intensity of the source term per unit area, the intensity of radiofluorescence light can be improved, thereby achieving efficient energy conversion of the nuclear battery as a whole (Jiang T,Xu Z,Meng C,et al.In-Depth Analysis of the Internal Energy Conversion of Nuclear Batteries and Radiation Degradation of Key Materials[J].Energy Technology,2020,8(12):2000667.). This revealed the crux of the problem that the energy conversion efficiency of radiofluorescence isotope batteries is currently far lower than the theoretical value.

[0005] Conventional radioluminescent isotope solar cells generally employ a vertically stacked structure, i.e., a simple stacked arrangement of radioactive source-fluorescent layer-photovoltaic unit. Its advantages lie in its simple structure and ease of operation, but its disadvantages are also significant. Particles emitted from the isotope source in the opposite direction are self-absorbed, resulting in a loss of nearly 50% of their decay energy. The fluorescent layer is typically a phosphor material tens of micrometers thick, which itself exhibits strong absorption of photons in the visible light band, hindering the emission of radioluminescent photons. Furthermore, due to limitations in the isotope source preparation technology, the effective particle emission activity per unit area of ​​the isotope source is limited, and the excited fluorescence intensity is far below the incident light intensity threshold for efficient energy conversion in the photovoltaic unit. Therefore, existing radioluminescent isotope solar cells have extremely low energy conversion efficiency and weak output power, making them difficult to apply practically. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to solve the aforementioned problems in the prior art and provide a three-dimensional array structure of a radioluminescent isotope battery based on a liquid / gas source term. By innovating the coupling method between the source term and the radioluminescent layer, decay particles emitted from the isotope source at any angle are effectively absorbed by the radioluminescent layer. Through the growth of micro-nano films on the surface of the radioluminescent structure, the excited radioluminescent photons are directionally emitted from a designated end face, improving the emitted light power density of the radioluminescent module, thereby optimizing the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic unit and achieving the goal of enhancing the overall energy conversion efficiency and output power of the battery.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0008] The application discloses a three-dimensional array structure radiation-induced fluorescence isotope battery based on liquid / gas source, which comprises a metal shell, a transparent waveguide, a radioactive isotope source, a scintillation crystal, a reflection layer, an anti-reflection layer, an optical coupling layer and a photovoltaic unit.

[0009] The transparent waveguide is a groove structure, and the bottom surface of the transparent waveguide is provided with the anti-reflection layer; the bottom surface of the scintillation crystal is a light emitting surface, and the top surface and the four side surfaces are provided with the reflection layer; the scintillation crystal is vertically arranged in the groove of the transparent waveguide to form a scintillation crystal array, and the radioactive isotope source is filled in the gap of the array in the transparent waveguide; the metal shell is bonded with the transparent waveguide to form a radiation-induced fluorescence assembly; the photovoltaic unit is arranged on the light emitting side of the radiation-induced fluorescence assembly, and the optical coupling layer is filled between the radiation-induced fluorescence assembly and the photovoltaic unit.

[0010] The metal shell is a groove structure, which is matched with the transparent waveguide so that the transparent waveguide is nested in the metal shell.

[0011] The radioactive isotope source adopts a liquid radioactive source or a gaseous radioactive source.

[0012] The scintillation crystal is a hexahedral structure, wherein the length and the width are equal, and the size parameters are related to the energy deposition and particle track of the radioactive isotope source in the scintillation material.

[0013] The radiation-induced fluorescence generated by the scintillation crystal is directionally emitted from the bottom end surface, and the light emitting end surface is subjected to roughness treatment.

[0014] The reflection layer is grown on the five non-light emitting surfaces of the scintillation crystal by a magnetron sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam sputtering, atomic layer deposition or molecular beam epitaxy process.

[0015] The reflection layer is a metal thin film with a thickness of 50-100 nm, or a multilayer dielectric reflection film of TiO2 / SiO2 material with a thickness of less than 1 micrometer.

[0016] The anti-reflection layer is prepared on the inner bottom surface of the transparent waveguide by a magnetron sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam sputtering, atomic layer deposition or molecular beam epitaxy process; and the thickness of the anti-reflection layer is 50 nm-100 micrometers.

[0017] The transmittance of the transparent waveguide is not less than 95%.

[0018] The quantum efficiency response curve of the photovoltaic unit covers the entire radiation-induced fluorescence spectrum.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the application has the following beneficial effects:

[0020] 1. The radiophotoluminescence isotope battery, comprising a radiophotoluminescence component and a photovoltaic unit conversion component, wherein the radiophotoluminescence component comprises a scintillation crystal for preparing a surface reflection layer, a radioactive isotope source filled in a gap of the scintillator, a transparent waveguide for guiding generated radiophotoluminescence, an antireflection film for enhancing photon transmission, and a metal shell for packaging the whole structure; the radiophotoluminescence component and the photovoltaic unit are combined through an optical coupling layer. The application realizes three-dimensional efficient coupling of the fluorescent material and the isotope source, improves the source energy utilization rate, expands the reaction specific surface area, effectively enriches the loading activity of the source in a unit volume, and further increases the energy density of the battery.

[0021] 2. The radiophotoluminescence isotope battery, comprising a radiophotoluminescence component and a photovoltaic unit conversion component, wherein the radiophotoluminescence component comprises a scintillation crystal for preparing a surface reflection layer, a radioactive isotope source filled in a gap of the scintillator, a transparent waveguide for guiding generated radiophotoluminescence, an antireflection film for enhancing photon transmission, and a metal shell for packaging the whole structure; the radiophotoluminescence component and the photovoltaic unit are combined through an optical coupling layer. The application realizes three-dimensional efficient coupling of the fluorescent material and the isotope source, improves the source energy utilization rate, expands the reaction specific surface area, effectively enriches the loading activity of the source in a unit volume, and further increases the energy density of the battery.

[0022] 3. The radiophotoluminescence isotope battery, comprising a radiophotoluminescence component and a photovoltaic unit conversion component, wherein the radiophotoluminescence component comprises a scintillation crystal for preparing a surface reflection layer, a radioactive isotope source filled in a gap of the scintillator, a transparent waveguide for guiding generated radiophotoluminescence, an antireflection film for enhancing photon transmission, and a metal shell for packaging the whole structure; the radiophotoluminescence component and the photovoltaic unit are combined through an optical coupling layer. The application realizes three-dimensional efficient coupling of the fluorescent material and the isotope source, improves the source energy utilization rate, expands the reaction specific surface area, effectively enriches the loading activity of the source in a unit volume, and further increases the energy density of the battery.

[0023] 4. The radiophotoluminescence component and the photovoltaic unit in the application are two independent components, and any faulty component can be replaced alone under long-term service conditions, so that the performance of the battery as a whole is not affected by the short board of a single device. In addition, the radiophotoluminescence component can also be used alone as a long-life and high-reliability light source for production and application.

[0024] 5. The radiophotoluminescence isotope battery, comprising a radiophotoluminescence component and a photovoltaic unit conversion component, wherein the radiophotoluminescence component comprises a scintillation crystal for preparing a surface reflection layer, a radioactive isotope source filled in a gap of the scintillator, a transparent waveguide for guiding generated radiophotoluminescence, an antireflection film for enhancing photon transmission, and a metal shell for packaging the whole structure; the radiophotoluminescence component and the photovoltaic unit are combined through an optical coupling layer. The application realizes three-dimensional efficient coupling of the fluorescent material and the isotope source, improves the source energy utilization rate, expands the reaction specific surface area, effectively enriches the loading activity of the source in a unit volume, and further increases the energy density of the battery.

[0025] 6. The radiophotoluminescence isotope battery, comprising a radiophotoluminescence component and a photovoltaic unit conversion component, wherein the radiophotoluminescence component comprises a scintillation crystal for preparing a surface reflection layer, a radioactive isotope source filled in a gap of the scintillator, a transparent waveguide for guiding generated radiophotoluminescence, an antireflection film for enhancing photon transmission, and a metal shell for packaging the whole structure; the radiophotoluminescence component and the photovoltaic unit are combined through an optical coupling layer. The application realizes three-dimensional efficient coupling of the fluorescent material and the isotope source, improves the source energy utilization rate, expands the reaction specific surface area, effectively enriches the loading activity of the source in a unit volume, and further increases the energy density of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the radiophotoluminescence isotope battery of the application;

[0027] Figure 2 It is a top view schematic diagram of the radiophotoluminescence isotope battery of the application;

[0028] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the scintillation crystal in the application;

[0029] Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of a conventional radiofluorescent isotope cell.

[0030] Figure reference numerals: 1-Metal casing; 2-Transparent waveguide; 3-Radioactive isotope source; 4-Scintillator crystal; 5-Reflective layer; 6-Antireflective layer; 7-Optical coupling layer; 8-Photovoltaic unit. Detailed Implementation

[0031] To make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present invention clearer and more understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0032] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the present invention is a three-dimensional array structure radioactive isotope battery based on liquid / gas source terms, including a metal shell 1, a transparent waveguide 2, a radioactive isotope source 3, a scintillation crystal 4, a reflective layer 5, an antireflective layer 6, an optical coupling layer 7, and a photovoltaic unit 8.

[0033] The transparent waveguide 2 has a groove structure, and the bottom surface of the transparent waveguide 2 is provided with the antireflection layer 6; the bottom surface of the scintillation crystal 4 is the light-emitting surface, and the top surface and four sides are provided with the reflective layer 5; the scintillation crystal 4 are vertically arranged in the groove of the transparent waveguide 2 to form a scintillation crystal array, and the radioactive isotope source 3 fills the gaps in the array within the transparent waveguide 2; the metal shell 1 is bonded to the transparent waveguide 2 to form a radioluminescent component; the photovoltaic unit 8 is placed on the light-emitting side of the radioluminescent component, and the optical coupling layer 7 is filled between the two.

[0034] The metal casing has a groove structure that is adapted to fit the transparent waveguide, allowing the transparent waveguide to be nested within the metal casing. Specifically, the inner diameter of the metal casing is the same as the outer diameter of the transparent waveguide, and the two are sealed together by means of anodic bonding or other methods to form a complete radioluminescent assembly.

[0035] The radioactive isotope source is a liquid radioactive source or a gaseous radioactive source; the liquid radioactive source includes, but is not limited to, tritium-3 ( 3 H2O), Nickel-63 ( 63 NiCl2), Strontium-90 ( 90 SrNO3); the gaseous radioactive source includes, but is not limited to, tritium-3 (SrNO3); 3 H2), Krypton-85 85 Kr).

[0036] The material of the scintillation crystal is inorganic and organic scintillators, including but not limited to YAG:Ce, GAGG:Ce, LuAG:Ce, LuAG:Pr, LYSO, LSO, BGO, CsI:Na, CsI:Tl, NaI:Tl, CWO, LaBr3:Ce, CLYC, LaCl3:Ce, CeBr3, CaF2:Eu, PWO, Bi4(SiO4)3, and the like.

[0037] The scintillation crystal is a hexahedral structure with equal length and width dimensions, and the size parameters are related to the energy deposition and particle track of the radioisotope source in the scintillator material. The height of the scintillation crystal is an integer multiple of the peak emission wavelength of the scintillation crystal, or other sizes calculated according to the parameters such as the transmittance of the crystal. Specifically, according to the difference in the energy of the loaded radioisotope source, the length and width dimensions of the scintillation crystal are dynamically adjusted in combination with the energy deposition depth of the radioisotope source in the material, wherein the optimization parameters are simulated by the Monte Carlo method. More specifically, the scintillation crystal is composed of a scintillation material, grown into a crystal by a Czochralski method, zone melting method, or the like, and prepared into a columnar hexahedral structure by cutting, grinding, and polishing.

[0038] The scintillation crystal generates scintillation light which is emitted directionally from the bottom end face, and the light exit end face is roughened, including cutting the section, coarse grinding, fine grinding, polishing, and the like, for different materials of the scintillation crystal.

[0039] The reflective layer is grown on the five non-light exit surfaces of the scintillation crystal by a magnetron sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam sputtering, atomic layer deposition, or molecular beam epitaxy process.

[0040] The reflective layer is a metal thin film of Al, Ag, Ti, Pt, or the like with a thickness of 50-100 nm, or a multilayer dielectric reflective film of TiO2 / SiO2 or the like with a thickness of less than 1 μm.

[0041] The antireflection layer is prepared inside the bottom surface of the transparent waveguide by a magnetron sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam sputtering, atomic layer deposition, or molecular beam epitaxy process; the thickness of the antireflection layer is 50 nm-100 μm, and the material is SiN, SiO2, or the like

[0042] The transparent waveguide is a radiation-resistant optical waveguide doped with lead, boron, or the like, and has a transmittance of not less than 95% for the visible light band, such as quartz glass.

[0043] The quantum efficiency response curve of the photovoltaic unit covers the entire scintillation spectrum, such as GaAs, Si, InP, InGaP, InGaAs, AlInP, and the like semiconductor photovoltaic units.

[0044] The optical coupling layer is made of materials such as optical silicone grease, optical silicone oil, or high-transmission gel, and is filled between the photovoltaic unit and the radioluminescent component, so that radioluminescent photons can be effectively incident into the surface of the photovoltaic unit.

[0045] Example 1

[0046] The three-dimensional array structure of the radioluminescent isotope battery based on the liquid / gas source term in this embodiment can be prepared by the following method:

[0047] 1) Select a columnar hexahedral scintillation crystal, polish all its surfaces, block the preset light-emitting bottom surface, and then use magnetron sputtering to sputter a metal reflective layer with a thickness of 50nm on the other four sides and one top surface.

[0048] 2) An antireflection layer is prepared on the inner bottom surface of the transparent waveguide using electron beam evaporation to target the wavelength of the emitted photons.

[0049] 3) Arrange scintillation crystals in a transparent waveguide, with the light-emitting side in direct contact with the anti-reflection layer inside the transparent waveguide.

[0050] 4) Fill the gaps between the scintillation crystal arrays with liquid radioactive isotope sources.

[0051] 5) The metal shell and the transparent waveguide are tightly bonded by anodic bonding. At this point, the radioluminescent component is fabricated.

[0052] 6) Place the photovoltaic unit on one side of the bottom surface of the transparent waveguide and apply optical grease between them. At this point, the radioactive isotope cell of the present invention is completed.

[0053] By connecting the electrodes of the battery to electrical devices or energy storage capacitors, power can be supplied to the devices or energy can be stored.

[0054] like Figure 4 As shown, the traditional structure of the radioluminescent isotope cell adopts a simple stacked structure. The light received by the photovoltaic unit per unit area is emitted by the scintillation crystal of the unit area excited by the isotope source of the unit area.

[0055] Before actually loading a liquid radioactive source onto the innovative structure proposed in this invention, the effective increase in efficiency of the novel structure compared to the traditional structure is predicted through simulation calculations. The simulations... 90 The Sr source term and the radioluminescence transduction combination of the GAGG:Ce crystal were first obtained using Monte Carlo simulation. 90The beta particles generated by the decay of the Sr source are incident into the crystal and can be completely deposited within a depth of 2mm, so the thickness of the crystal in the traditional structure is set to 2mm, and the length and width of the crystal column in the innovative structure of the application are also set to 2mm. Figure 1 In the 5x5 crystal structure in the above formula, the thickness of the source term is set to 0.5mm, and the calculation shows that the required length and width of the photovoltaic unit are both 13mm. If the same light-emitting area is realized by the traditional structure, the particle collision interface area of the source term and the crystal is 13mmx13mm; based on the innovative structure of the application, the reaction collision interface of the source term particles and the crystal is 25(crystals)x4(sides)x2mm(width of the crystal)xheight of the crystal. Through calculation, it can be obtained that the height of the crystal in the new structure reaches 0.845mm to realize the same reaction specific surface area as the traditional structure, and the volume of the crystal used is 84.5mm 3 , while the traditional structure needs a crystal of 169mm 3 , and the volume difference is doubled. At the same time, the height of each basic light-emitting unit in the new structure is only 0.845mm, the optical path of the photons in the crystal is reduced, and the energy loss in the photon transport process is reduced. In addition, under the condition of realizing the same reaction specific surface area, the new structure of the application only uses 50.7mm 3 of the 90 Sr source term, compared with 84.5mm 3 of the source term of the traditional structure, and the source utilization efficiency is improved by 66.7%. In summary, the new structure of the application can realize optimization and improvement in the volume of the scintillation crystal, the radioluminescence optical path, the source utilization efficiency and other aspects.

[0056] The above content and implementation examples are only illustrative of the content of the application, and cannot be regarded as limiting the specific implementation schemes of the application to these descriptions. Without departing from the concept of the application, a number of simple deductions and changes can be made, which should be regarded as the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. A radiophosphor cell based on a three-dimensional array of liquid / gaseous source terms, characterized in that: The metal shell, the transparent waveguide, the radioisotope source, the scintillation crystal, the reflection layer, the anti-reflection layer, the optical coupling layer and the photovoltaic cell; The transparent waveguide is a groove structure, and the bottom surface of the transparent waveguide is provided with the anti-reflection layer; the scintillation crystal is a columnar hexahedral structure, the bottom surface of the scintillation crystal is a light emitting surface, and the top surface and the four side surfaces are provided with the reflection layer; the scintillation crystals are vertically arranged in the grooves of the transparent waveguide to form a scintillation crystal array; the radioisotope source is a liquid radioisotope source or a gaseous radioisotope source, and the radioisotope source is filled in the gaps of the array in the transparent waveguide; the metal shell is bonded with the transparent waveguide to form a radioluminescence assembly; the photovoltaic cell is arranged on the light emitting side of the radioluminescence assembly, and the optical coupling layer is filled between the photovoltaic cell and the radioluminescence assembly.

2. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The metal shell is a groove structure, which is adapted to the transparent waveguide, so that the transparent waveguide is nested in the metal shell.

3. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The length of the scintillation crystal is equal to the width, and the size parameters are related to the energy deposition and particle track of the radioisotope source in the scintillation material.

4. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The radioluminescence generated by the scintillation crystal is directionally emitted from the bottom end surface, and the light emitting end surface is roughened.

5. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The reflection layer is grown on the five non-light emitting surfaces of the scintillation crystal by a magnetron sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam sputtering, atomic layer deposition or molecular beam epitaxy process.

6. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The reflection layer is a metal thin film with a thickness of 50-100 nm, or a multilayer dielectric reflection film of TiO2 / SiO2 material with a thickness of less than 1 μm.

7. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The anti-reflection layer is prepared on the inner bottom surface of the transparent waveguide by a magnetron sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam sputtering, atomic layer deposition or molecular beam epitaxy process; and the thickness of the anti-reflection layer is 50 nm-100 μm.

8. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The transmittance of the transparent waveguide is not less than 95%.

9. The liquid / gaseous source term based three-dimensional array structure radioluminescent isotope cell of claim 1, wherein: The quantum efficiency response curve of the photovoltaic cell covers the entire radioluminescence spectrum.

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