5–20 MeV proton irradiation effects on GaAs/Ge solar cells for space use

This paper reports the high-energy proton irradiation effects on GaAs/Ge space solar cells. The solar cells were irradiated by protons with energy of 5–20 MeV at a fluence ranging from 1×109 to 7×1013 cm−2, and then their electric parameters were measured at AM0. It was shown that the Isc, Voc and Pmax degrade as the fluence increases, respectively, but the degradation rates of Isc, Voc and Pmax decrease as the proton energy increases, and the degradation is relative to proton irradiation-induced defect Ec−0.41 eV in irradiated GaAs/Ge cells.