1. Background

Our society is increasingly concerned about energy issues. On the one hand, this is due to the disastrous consequences of the massive use of fossil fuels and the depletion of reserves; on the other hand, it is due to a new and rapidly growing demand for mini/micro energy sources for new mobile information technologies.

These two sectors seem disconnected at first glance because the powers involved are incomparable (kilowatts to terawatts on one side, microwatts to watts on the other).

However, research into new technologies...