Radiation resistance of compound semiconductor solar cells

Abstract

1-MeV electron irradiation effects on molecular beam epitaxy-grown AlGaAs and InGaAs solar cells have been determined and compared with our previous results for radiation damage of InP and GaAs solar cells in order to clarify radiation resistance of compound semiconductor solar cells. Differences of radiation resistance of AlGaAs, GaAs, and InGaAs cells are found to be explained by band-gap energy effects on solar cell degradation. Moreover, 1-MeV electron irradiation results of several solar cells such as InP, InGaP, InGaAsP, GaAs, AlGaAs, InGaAs, Si, Ge, and CuInSe2 have also been analyzed by considering their damage constants, band-gap energies, and optical absorption coefficients. It is found that superior radiation-resistance of CuInSe2 and InP-based solar cells is explained by the higher optical absorption coefficient of CuInSe2 and lower defect introduction rates (damage constants) of InP-based materials compared to other compound semiconductor materials.