Energy loss process analysis for radiation degradation and immediate recovery of amorphous silicon alloy solar cells

Sato, Shinichiro; Beernink, K.*; Oshima, Takeshi

Performance degradation and immediate recovery of a-Si/a-SiGe/a-SiGe triple-junction solar cells due to irradiation of silicon ions, electrons, and protons are investigated. Significant recovery is always observed independent of radiation species and temperature. It is shown that the characteristic time, which is obtained by analyzing the short-circuit current annealing behavior, is an important parameter for practical applications in space. In addition, the radiation degradation mechanism is discussed by analyzing the energy loss process of incident particles (ionizing energy loss: IEL, and non-ionizing energy loss: NIEL) and their relative damage factors. It is determined that ionizing dose is the primarily parameter for electron degradation whereas displacement damage dose is the primarily parameter for proton degradation. The impact of "radiation quality effect" has to be considered to understand the degradation due to Si ion irradiation.