Reference number : GC-2017-Q4-00992, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : LaPierre, Ray (McMaster University), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Ontario, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : Betavoltaic devices use energetic electrons (beta particles) to create electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor by_x000D_
impact ionization for direct generation of electrical power. Betavoltaics provide compact, long-life, and high_x000D_
energy density devices for nanowatt to microwatt applications such as mobile electronic devices, implantable_x000D_
medical devices, and autonomous wireless sensor networks. The implementation of betavoltaics is presently_x000D_
limited by their relatively low efficiency (<10%). We propose to fabricate gallium phosphide (GaP) nanowires_x000D_
on Si substrates by the self-assisted growth method. The high bandgap of GaP nanowires will offer a high_x000D_
limiting efficiency of about 25% and a reduced cost by growth on inexpensive Si substrates. The beta source_x000D_
(Ni-63) will be embedded in the space between nanowires, using a sol-gel spin-coating technique recently_x000D_
developed by the applicant. In this way, the beta source will be nearly completely surrounded by semiconductor_x000D_
material, improving the capture efficiency of emitted beta particles and using only a fraction of the_x000D_
semiconductor volume of existing technology., program purpose french : Betavoltaic devices use energetic electrons (beta particles) to create electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor by_x000D_
impact ionization for direct generation of electrical power. Betavoltaics provide compact, long-life, and high_x000D_
energy density devices for nanowatt to microwatt applications such as mobile electronic devices, implantable_x000D_
medical devices, and autonomous wireless sensor networks. The implementation of betavoltaics is presently_x000D_
limited by their relatively low efficiency (<10%). We propose to fabricate gallium phosphide (GaP) nanowires_x000D_
on Si substrates by the self-assisted growth method. The high bandgap of GaP nanowires will offer a high_x000D_
limiting efficiency of about 25% and a reduced cost by growth on inexpensive Si substrates. The beta source_x000D_
(Ni-63) will be embedded in the space between nanowires, using a sol-gel spin-coating technique recently_x000D_
developed by the applicant. In this way, the beta source will be nearly completely surrounded by semiconductor_x000D_
material, improving the capture efficiency of emitted beta particles and using only a fraction of the_x000D_
semiconductor volume of existing technology., agreement title english : Nanowire betavoltaic nuclear battery, agreement title french : Nanowire betavoltaic nuclear battery, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 25000.0, agreement start date : 2018-02-07, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada