CMB Kauai

Over2LoTa for civilization

This has no direct association with the Baha`i faith but it may be an impersonal advancement of our age.

Future civilization may draw on very cheap, clean, and convienent energy from background highly uniform heat as the Second Law of Thermodynmics becomes a mathematical technicality of little practical value. 2LoT states that heat is only useful as it flows from a hot source to a cold sink. This may be naturally met for microscopic volumes which fluctuate in thermal condition even when the general temperature is uniform.

I was granted U.S. patent 3,890,161 DIODE ARRAY, a plausible method of producing refrigertion and an equivalent amount of D.C. electrical power using a chip with very many very small diodes in consistent alignment to rectify and aggregate Johnson noise, a low power radio frequency manifestation of electron random thermal movement.

J.C. Maxwell in the 1860's devised 'Maxwell's Demon" a thought experiment where a small demon at a small door passively controlled access between two sides of a partition so warmer molecules in a gas were directed to one side and cooler molecules to the other to run a heat engine that would not need new heat or produce waste heat. This device was shown not to work because the demon used more energy using light to watch the molecules near the door than the sorting process could produce. Smoluchowski in 1912 analysed a modification where a small trapdoor simply directly opened to gas molecules traveling in one direction and closed for gas molecules traveling the other way. He concluded that a spring was needed to close the door and that the spring would hinder the opening of the door. I believe, instead, that such a door would be closed without a spring by the added pressure of the additional molecules it collects on the side of the door where pressure closes it, a consequence of its operation. I believe that a diode is an electrical version of Smoluchowski's trapdoor that will sort thermal random movement of electrons into net D.C. electrical power.

In 1993 I bought a chip containing a patch of ~5,600 small diodes with separate gold anodes exposed on the top surface. I commisioned a lab in Long Beach CA to put a layer of conductive paste on the top of the chip to connect all the diodes in parallel and then test the chip for D.C. output. They reported ~50 mV across a load of 50K ohms implying an output of ~50 nW. Unfortunately I asked them to keep the chip so they could show it to any interested people resulting in the loss of the chip when they went out of business.

In ~2005 I commisioned a supportive electronics technician, Tom Schum, to build a prototype using 1080 SMS7621 surface mount microwave diodes grouped as 108 parallel first times 10 in series. This had a dissapointing lack of clear output. Meanwhile, a collaborator, Paul Lowrance, reported personal and other party success with diodes in series first. I now believe that grouping diodes in series first is appropriate for large, inefficient diodes. Series grouping may allow the diodes to act more independently than parallel grouping when the diodes are inefficient. A technical point is that the output polarity is reported to be that of diodes where the high current low voltage state predominates, anode negative. I think this is due to the diodes being in parallel with capacitance.

I believe that more research by more people is needed. One way to build a research grade prototype is to construct series first square arrays of 1N34A germanium point contact small signal diodes. 200 diodes in series, now an arbitrary example because the numbers I used in earlier editions of this paper failed to work together, may produce clearly measurable amounts of power. 800 as 2 parallel groups of 400 in series, 1,800 as 3 parallel groups of 600 in series, and higher squares should produce proportionally more power as the number of rectified Johnson noise sources, the individual diodes, increases. This members of this series of diode square arrays have the same output impedance. The output impedance of the diode arrays should match the input impedance of the measuring voltmeter for maximum power transfer. The interpolated zero bias resistance of the 1N34A has to be known to design diode square arrays. The interpolated zero bias resistance of diodes can be determined by applying small DC voltages of both polarities.

Practical devices require nanofabrication. Nanofabricated diodes may work well in parallel, which would be built as vertical diodes with isolated anodes between conductive planes. Carbon buckyballs could be the anodes abutting n type InSb.
100 billion diodes / sq. cm. may be possible in a mature design yielding 100s of watts / sq. cm. which requires good thermal design.

I believe the diode array will be an openly available commodity once it is developed. Applications may start as premium priced specials that drift to commodity prices. Eventually many applications would be part of a craft with no patentability. There is no need to support a wealthy class on this technology. Everyone could prosper. There could be wide benefits from lights, and other electrical / electronic / refrigeration devices that work anywhere out of the box or off the pallet.

This form of energy my be named over2LoT energy because thermal Carnot efficiency is exceeded.

Aloha,
Charles M Brown

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CMB Kauai

I've made several edits on my introductory post so prior readers should reread it. I don't expect to need any more edits on the first post. We may now proceed with newly written further thoughts, possibly with further edit and reread points.

Energy would not be gained or lost in a system of a working diode array and its electrical load. This is most acceptible to many Buddhists and Hindus and least acceptible to many English engineers where Sir James Jeans in England promoted 2LoT as a proof of God as an agent for the thermodynamic start of the Universe.

A web community developing a commodity using open technology doesn't need many managers or executives; a highly eagilatarian swarm will serve.

If the 1N34A has a zero bias resistance of 5 K ohms than 2,000 in series will match to standard multimeter input impedance of 10 M ohms. I saw a quote of $ 0.16 / diode in 500 - 1,000 quantity so let's put the cost of diodes and their shipping, solder and a special circuit board at ~ $ 500.

A careful person was concerned about leakage through the circuit board so cutting the circuit board into separate sections:
- - -
a meandering single but weak board:
|,|'|,|'|,|'|
or a compromise with more strength but less air isolation:
*****
| | | |
*****
A string of diodes in series occupies the vertical lines, |

Aloha,
Charles M Brown

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