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Graphene-Silicon Mini Solar Cells Power Battery-Free Sensor in Peer-Reviewed Lab Demo

Series-connected cells charged capacitors in minutes to keep an ultra‑low‑power temperature sensor operating for more than a day.

Overview

  • Researchers from the University of Arkansas and the University of Michigan report the results in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B (DOI: 10.1116/6.0004618).
  • Arrays of multilayer graphene on n‑type silicon were fabricated with patterned thermal oxide and gold pads, then wired in series to reach the voltages required by the sensor.
  • The system removed both a power‑management chip and a rechargeable battery by running directly from three storage capacitors assigned to distinct tasks.
  • Sensor power consumption was reduced to the nanowatt range, with low‑power design led by David Blaauw’s Michigan team and graphene device development led by Paul Thibado’s Arkansas group; Ashaduzzaman is first author.
  • Next steps include adding a graphene‑based kinetic energy harvester to move toward multi‑modal ambient power for long‑life autonomous IoT sensors.