In this paper, we present preliminary results on photon generation using the kinetic energy of electrons emitted from radioactive /sup 63/Ni thin films, demonstrating a self-powered photon source. The aim of this study is to develop a new method to excite the rubidium lamp to meet the low power consumption requirement of the chip-scale atomic clock. Air, neon, and xenon gases are pumped into a macroscopic and micromachined cavities with integrated radioactive /sup 63/Ni thin film sources. Photon emission is measured both with and without magnetic fields to investigate magnetic confinement of the emitted electrons.