Pulsed electron jump generator

• US 20020017827A1
• Filed: 08/24/2001
• Published: 02/14/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NeoKismet, LLC
• Original Assignee: NeoKismet, LLC
• Inventors: Gidwani, Jawahar M., Zuppero, Anthony C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,223,914 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 310/300
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/66 Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 14/005 Photoelectrochemical storage cells light sensitive devices H01G9/20, semiconductors sensitive to light H01L31/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02N 11/002 Generators
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 136/291 Applications

Abstract

A device and method for stimulating pulsed chemical reactions in a small volume of gaseous reactants. An emitter stimulates the reactions of a fuel oxidizer mixture and a collector converts the vibrational energy of the resulting products into useful energy. The device may also include a reaction region, a collector, and reactants such as fuel and oxidizer. In one embodiment, air including exhausts is made to flow into and out of the reaction region, and fuel is made to flow into the reaction region. The device may be configured in several geometries, including but not limited to, a V-channel, a box and a plane.

Claims

1. A method of generating energy, comprising:

applying a pulse of energy in the vicinity of a reaction surface to activate the reaction surface;

stimulating reactions in a region surrounding the reaction surface to create highly vibrationally excited molecules; and

converting the highly vibrationally excited molecules created from the stimulated reactions to useful energy.

2. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the converting includes converting energy of the highly vibrationally excited molecules into hot electrons.

3. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, further including:

collecting the useful energy.

4. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the applying includes applying a pulse of energy with pulse duration shorter than thrice the time it takes for energy vibrations on the reaction surface to equilibrate with its substrate.

5. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein a distance between a reaction surface and a converter of hot electron energy is equal to or less than thrice the aggregate energy diffusion length of electrons generated by the pulse of energy.

6. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulse of energy includes one or more selected from the group of hot electrons, photons, and phonons.

7. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the applying includes applying pulses of energy in intervals, wherein the interval between the pulses is shorter than a time associated with the dissociation of adsorbates.

8. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes selecting material reaction surface with high sticking coefficient.

9. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the applying includes applying a pulse of energy in the vicinity of a reaction surface to create reaction initiators in the reaction surface, and the stimulating occurs in response to the reaction initiators in the reaction vicinity of the reaction surface.

10. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 9, wherein the reaction initiators includes reaction intermediates.

11. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 9, wherein the reaction initiators include reaction autocatalysts.

12. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 9, wherein the reaction initiators include translationally hot species.

13. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 9, wherein the method further includes flooding the reaction surface with reagents.

14. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 13, wherein the reagents include fuel.

15. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 9, wherein the reaction initiators are created in pulses with durations less than twenty nanoseconds.

16. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulating includes stimulating reactions in a region surrounding the reaction surface to create highly vibrationally excited molecules near a converter.

17. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 16, wherein a distance between the converter and the region where the stimulating occurs is within thrice the diffusion distance of the highly vibrationally excited molecules.

18. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

allowing exhausts formed from the reactions to leave a collector surface; and

generating at least one watt/cm2 of power from the reactions.

19. The method of generating energy as claimed in claim 2, wherein the hot electrons are transported as carriers in one of semiconductor and insulator, and cause chemical reactions to create additional hot electrons.

20. A device for generating energy, comprising:

an emitter that stimulates and initiates reactions in pulses, the emitter having a reaction surface;

a reaction region surrounding the emitter; and

a collector near the reaction region,

wherein fuel and oxidizer reacting near the reaction surface causes creation of hot electrons, and the collector converts the hot electrons into useful energy.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the reaction region includes a surface of the emitter.

22. The device of claim 20, wherein the reaction region includes a surface of the collector.

23. The device of claim 20, wherein the emitter and the collector are on a same surface.

24. The device of claim 20, wherein the emitter and the collector are a same one device.

25. The device of claim 20, wherein the reaction region is formed as a V-channel by the surrounding collector.

26. The device of claim 20, wherein the reaction region is partly enclosed by the surrounding collector.

27. The device of claim 20, wherein the emitter includes:

an insulator;

a first electrode connected to a first side of the insulator; and

a second electrode connected to a second side of the insulator, the second electrode forming the reaction surface,

wherein energy pulses can be applied across the first electrode and the second electrode to stimulate reaction on the reaction surface.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the insulator has thickness dimension that is less than three times the energy diffusion length of hot electrons traversing the insulator.

29. The device of claim 20, wherein the emitter includes one or more of a forward biased diode, a metal-insulator-metal device, a semiconductor-insulator-metal device, a semiconductor-metal device, an optical device, and a quantum well.

30. The device of claim 20, wherein the device further includes a strip transmission line connected to the emitter for driving energy pulses into the emitter.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the strip transmission line includes a dielectric material in contact with one or more electrodes.

32. The device of claim 30, wherein the strip transmission line includes a dispersive transmission line designed to compress pulses.

33. The device of claim 20, wherein the reaction surface includes a catalyst.

34. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes a reaction surface.

35. The device of claim 20, wherein the emitter includes a semiconductor whose p side is ohmically or almost ohmically attached to the reaction surface.

36. The device of claim 20, wherein the emitter includes an electrically pulsed solid state optically emitting diode.

37. The device for generating energy as claimed in claim 20, wherein the collector includes:

a conductor surface;

a conductor electrode connected to the conductor surface;

a collector semiconductor connected to the conductor surface; and

a collector electrode in contact with the semiconductor,

wherein the hot electrons created in the collector travel via the conductor surface and the conductor electrode to cause the semiconductor to become forward biased and produces useful voltage across the collector electrode.

38. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes:

a conductor having a surface; and

semiconductor directly connected to the conductor surface.

39. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes:

a conductor having a surface; and

a quantum well structure directly connected to the conductor surface.

40. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes:

a conductor having a surface; and

a Schottky diode directly connected to the conductor surface.

41. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes a conducting surface supplied with one or combination of fuel and oxidizer additives.

42. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes a conducting surface with superlattice structures.

43. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector includes a conducting surface formed from material with a Debye temperature property chosen to optimize the ratio of hot electrons and phonons generated upon exposure to reaction products.

44. The device of claim 20, wherein the collector collects electromagnetic radiation.

45. The device of claim 37, wherein the collector semiconductor includes:

a highly doped p+ region;

a p doped region; and

a n doped region.

46. The device of claim 20, wherein the device further includes a fuel port in close proximity to the emitter.