Evaluation of the performance degradation of silicon solar cell irradiated by low-level (<1 MeV) energetic particles using photocarrier radiometry

Radiation damage induced by energetic particles such as protons and electrons beams could cause permanent deterioration of electrical characteristics of the semiconductor material, which is one of the primary reasons for failures of the space solar cells. This paper discusses the degradations of carrier lifetime and diffusion length of c-Si solar cell with low-level energy (<1 MeV) electron and proton irradiations using Photocarrier Radiometry (PCR) methodology. A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer PCR model was used to evaluate these two parameters of the c-Si solar cells. Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) were employed to analyze the radiation damage of c-Si solar cell induced by electron and proton irradiations at different energies. Experimental investigations on PCR signals of c-Si solar cells irradiated by electron and proton beams were presented. The results show that the carrier lifetime and diffusion length are dramatically reduced due to the radiation damage induced by the low-level energy electron and proton irradiation.