Charged particle radiation effects on flexible a-Si/a-SiGe/a-SiGe triple junction solar cells for space use

Abstract

Performance degradation of a-Si/a-SiGe/a-SiGe triple-junction solar cells due to irradiation of silicon ions., high-energy electrons, and protons are investigated using an in-situ current-voltage measurement system. The room temperature (RT) annealing effects immediately after irradiation are also investigated and the significant RT annealing is always observed independent of radiation species. By analyzing the energy loss process of incident particles (ionizing energy loss and non-ionizing energy loss), the radiation degradation mechanism is discussed. It is concluded that both the ionizing energy loss and the non-ionizing energy loss contribute the degradation.