1 MeV electron and 10 MeV proton irradiation effects on inverted metamorphic GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs triple junction solar cell

The degradation characteristic of GaInP/GaAs/In0.3Ga0.7As inverted metamorphic (IMM) triple junction solar cells irradiated by 1 MeV electron and 10 MeV proton have been studied and compared to that of traditional GaInP/InGaAs/Ge lattice matched (LM) triple junction solar cells. Both IMM and LM solar cells exhibited very good radiation resistance upon 3.16 x 10(10) MeV/g displacement damage dose electron and proton irradiation level. The remaining factor of maximum output power is 0.86 and 0.85 for electron irradiation and 0.73 and 0.75 for proton irradiation in IMM and LM solar cells, respectively. IMM solar cell showed better properties in current matching in end-of-life condition comparing to that of LM solar cells. 1 MeV electron to 10 MeV proton irradiation relative damage coefficients, R-ep, for IMM and LM solar cells are determined as 3.11 and 2.78, respectively, by using equivalent displacement damage dose model. The radiation damage coefficient of diffusion length upon 1 MeV electron and 10 MeV proton irradiation for both types of solar cell structures have been calculated.

Automated summary

The degradation characteristic of GaInP/GaAs/In0.3Ga0.7As inverted metamorphic (IMM) triple junction solar cells irradiated by 1 MeV electron and 10 MeV proton have been compared to that of traditional GaInP/InGaAs/Ge lattice matched (LM) triple junction solar cells. Both IMM and LM solar cells exhibited very good radiation resistance upon high dose electron and proton irradiation, but IMM solar cells showed better properties in current matching in end-of-life condition.