Evaluation of GEANT4 and COMSOL Multiphysics Coupling Capabilities by Simulation of an Optimized Betavoltaic Battery

A beta-voltaic battery design can be used to evaluate the functionality of the GEANT4 code and COMSOL Multiphysics software. The spatial distribution of the deposited energy for the beta particles in the semiconductor transducer has been simulated by using the GEANT4 and then, the electron-hole pair generation rate has been obtained. Subsequently, output performances of the battery such as the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics and the maximum electrical power have been determined by using the COMSOL Multiphysics in which the electron-hole pair generation rate from the GEANT4 simulation was utilized as input. Validation is done by considering an optimized planar betavoltaic battery. The results of the current study have been compared with other articles. The results are in good agreement and the relative errors are less than 8%. Our simulation model can be extended to the betavoltaic batteries with other semiconductors and radioactive isotopes and can provide a powerful tool for predicting the output performance and optimizing the betavoltaic batteries.