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Betavoltaic Batteries are ideal for small devices like pacemakers

Betavoltaic cells are batteries capable of producing small amounts of power over a long period of time. They are ideal for devices like pacemakers, potentially providing power for over 20 years.
Betavoltaic batteries function like photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic cells are semi conducting diodes, in which current flows when a photon strikes the diode junction, freeing an electron. In a betavoltaic cell an electron, produced by a small radioactive source (beta emitters), triggers the diode rather than a photon.
The technology is actually very safe as the beta particles that the isotope emit are very low energy and are easily sheilded.