Rads to Watts

Rads to Watts will explore new approaches for directly converting nuclear radiation energy into electricity, with a distinct focus on radiation voltaics (also known as radiovoltaics). 

The ultimate vision of Rads to Watts is to enable radiovoltaics that convert high-power nuclear radiation into kilowatts of electrical energy. Enabling the operation of radiovoltaics at higher radiation fluences (i.e., number of radiation particles crossing a defined area or energy per unit area) will enable long-lived, unattended high-power sources for new operating domains that are power-starved and/or for which a logistics supply chain to replenish power sources does not exist. 

Radiation-induced defects in radiovoltaics degrade performance and lifespan of many current radiovoltaics, at both the materials and device levels, when they are exposed to higher-power radiation sources.

Rads to Watts encourages program performers to go beyond typical low-power radiovoltaic architectures and semiconductors with low fluence tolerance in order to achieve long-lived, high-power conversion capabilities.