Sandia National Laboratory, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1082, USA.
Science. 2020 Mar 20;367(6484):1341-1345. doi: 10.1126/science.aba2089. Epub 2020 Feb 20.
Moderate-temperature thermal sources (100° to 400°C) that radiate waste heat are often the by-product of mechanical work, chemical or nuclear reactions, or information processing. We demonstrate conversion of thermal radiation into electrical power using a bipolar grating-coupled complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) tunnel diode. A two-step photon-assisted tunneling charge pumping mechanism results in separation of charge carriers in pn-junction wells leading to a large open-circuit voltage developed across a load. Electrical power generation from a broadband blackbody thermal source has been experimentally demonstrated with converted power densities of 27 to 61 microwatts per square centimeter for thermal sources between 250° and 400°C. Scalable, efficient conversion of radiated waste heat into electrical power can be used to reduce energy consumption or to power electronics and sensors.
中温热源（100°C 至 400°C）辐射废热，通常是机械工作、化学或核反应或信息处理的副产品。我们使用双极光栅耦合互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）隧道二极管展示了将热辐射转换为电能的过程。两步光辅助隧道电子抽取电荷的机制导致在 pn 结阱中分离电荷载流子，从而在负载两端产生大的开路电压。实验证明，从宽带黑体热源发电，对于 250°C 至 400°C 的热源，转换后的功率密度为 27 至 61 微瓦/平方厘米。辐射废热的高效、可扩展转换可以用于减少能源消耗或为电子设备和传感器供电。
