Effect of base doping or radiation damage in GaAs single-junction solar cells

Abstract

Effects of 1 MeV electron irradiation damage are reported for thirteen GaAs n-p single-junction solar cells with base doping levels from 2*10/sup 16/ to 3*10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/. The short-circuit current densities before and after irradiation to a fluence of 10/sup 15/ cm/sup -2/ show a downward trend as a function of base doping, and the extent of radiation damage also increases as base doping increases. Radiation damage coefficients extracted through modeling of the spectral response curves are seen to vary from 2.5*10/sup -8/ to 1*10/sup -7/ over the range of p-type base doping covered. >