Title: Assessment of the electrical parameters in silicon/Nickel-63 betavoltaic battery through the MCNP code

Authors: Shahryar Malekie; Suffian Mohamad Tajudin

Addresses: Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Radiation Application Research School, P.O. Box 31485-498, Karaj, Iran; Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medical Imaging, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Terengganu, Malaysia ' Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medical Imaging, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract: In this work, simulation was conducted to study the transport of beta particles of Nickel-63 in silicon, using the MCNP code at different energy levels, namely monoenergetic average energy at 17.4 keV, monoenergetic maximum energy at 66.9 keV, and general spectrum energy. Energy deposition was assessed at various depths and energy levels in silicon using the MCNP code. Then, electron-hole pair generation rate was obtained. Subsequently, the output performances of the battery including short-circuit current (I_sc), open-circuit voltage (V_oc), fill factor (FF), maximum electrical power (P_max), and efficiency () were calculated. Results showed that I_sc depends on various parameters including, activity of the source, energy deposition in the semiconductor, and minority carrier diffusion length. It was observed that an increase in the diffusion length resulted in a higher accumulation of energy deposition. Finally, results of this study were compared to other findings, in which exhibited a good correlation.

Keywords: betavoltaic battery; silicon; Nickel-63; electrical parameters; MCNP code.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEC.2026.150620

International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion, 2026 Vol.17 No.1, pp.3 - 16

Received: 26 Jun 2024
Accepted: 27 Jul 2024
Published online: 18 Dec 2025 *

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