Feasibility of CVD Diamond Radiation Energy Conversion Devices

We analyzed the feasibility of CVD diamond to operate as the main component in active devices for conversion of high-energy radiation into electrical power. A self-sustained radiation dosimeter based on the electron emission effect was designed and tested under low-energy X-ray beam (Mg X-ray tube). The device operative conditions (absence of applied bias voltage) represented also the first experimental test towards the development of diamond energy conversion systems. On this basis, we designed a CVD diamond vacuum radiation energy converter and analyzed it using electron beams. An analysis of the performance was obtained letting both electron flux I0 and kinetic energy E0 to vary. For E0 = 1 keV the power exploited by a load was estimated as tenths of nW and the total conversion efficiency was between 0.2 and 0.4%. This performance makes the device nominally competitive if compared to other similar solid-state converters. A discussion about the device design and possible improvements was performed in order to rationalize the conditions able to maximize the energy conversion efficiency.