Abstract: The sensitivities of betavoltaic batteries and photovoltaic batteries to series and parallel resistance are studied. Based on the study, an electrode pattern design principle of GaAs betavoltaic batteries is proposed. GaAs PIN junctions with and without the proposed electrode pattern are fabricated and measured under the illumination of ⁶³Ni. Results show that the proposed electrode can reduce the backscattering and shadowing for the beta particles from ⁶³Ni to increase the GaAs betavoltaic battery short circuit currents effectively but has little impact on the fill factors and ideal factors.

Key words: betavoltaic, photovoltaic, electrode design, series and parallel resistance