Radiation damage experiment on gallium arsenide solar cells

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells for space applications from three different manufacturers were irradiated with 10-MeV protons or 1 MeV electrons. The electrical performance of the cells was measured at several fluence levels and compared. Silicon cells were included for reference and comparison. All of the GaAs cell types performed similarly throughout the testing and showed a 36-56% power areal density advantage over the silicon cells. Thinner (8 mil versus 12 mil) GaAs cells provided a significant weight reduction and 9% more power at the final radiation levels of 10¹⁶ 1 MeV electrons/cm² and 10¹³ 10 MeV protons/cm²