Claims
- 1. A contact potential difference battery, comprising:
at least two materials having different work functions and electrically coupled; a radiation source; and a gas disposed between the at least two materials, the radiation source emitting a radiation causing ionization of the gas.
- 2. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 1 wherein the radiation source comprises a β emitter.
- 3. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 2 wherein the β emitter comprises Americium.
- 4. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 1 wherein the at least two materials are selected from the group consisting of metals and highly doped semiconductors.
- 5. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 1 wherein the gas is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and inert noble gases.
- 6. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 1 further including additional ones of the contact potential difference battery coupled in series, thereby multiplying output current.
- 7. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 1 further including a coupled microelectronic circuit.
- 8. The contact potential difference battery as defined in claim 1 wherein the gas is present at high pressure, thereby providing increased current output.
- 9. A method of providing continuous, long term current, comprising the steps of:
providing an ionizable gas; providing at least two electrically coupled separated metals to form a capacitive circuit with the metals having the ionizable gas disposed therebetween; applying ionizing radiation to form positive and negative ions from the ionizable gas; and the positive and negative ions each, respectively, striking one of the two different metals to cause a flow of current in the capacitive circuit including the electrically coupled different metals.
- 10. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein the ionizing radiation is provided from a source disposed adjacent the two different metals within a range effective to cause ionization.
- 11. A method of providing continuous, long term electrical power to a microelectronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
coupling a contact potential difference battery to a microelectric circuit; and activating a radiation source to cause current output from the contact potential difference battery to the microelectronic circuit.
- 12. The method as defined in claim 11 wherein the contact potential difference battery comprises a plurality of individual ones of the contact potential difference battery coupled in series to multiply current output.
Government Interests
[0001] This invention was made in part with U.S. Government support under a grant from the Office of Naval Research Contract No. N000140010374. The U.S. Government has certain rights in this invention.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60279599 |
Mar 2001 |
US |