Title :
Modeling the effects of 1 MeV electron radiation in gallium-arsenide solar cells using SILVACO® virtual wafer fabrication software
Author :
Crespin, Aaron L. ; Michael, S.
Author_Institution :
United States Marine Corps, Monterey, CA, USA
Abstract :
The ALTAS device simulator from Silvaco International has the potential for predicting the effects of electron radiation in solar cells by modeling material defects. A GaAs solar cell was simulated in ATLAS and compared to an actual cell with radiation defects identified using deep level transient spectroscopy techniques (DLTS). The solar cells were compared for various fluence levels of 1 MeV electron radiation and showed an average of less than three percent difference between experimental and simulated cell output characteristics. These results demonstrate that ATLAS software can be a viable tool for predicting solar cell degradation due to electron radiation.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; deep level transient spectroscopy; electron beam effects; electron radiation; gallium arsenide; physics computing; semiconductor device models; solar cells; 1 MeV; 1 MeV electron radiation; ALTAS device simulator; DLTS; GaAs; SILVACO® virtual wafer fabrication software; deep level transient spectroscopy; fluence level; gallium-arsenide solar cells; material defect modeling; radiation defects; solar cell degradation; Atomic measurements; Computational modeling; Degradation; Electrons; Fabrication; Gallium arsenide; Photovoltaic cells; Predictive models; Semiconductor device modeling; Solar power generation;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2005. Conference Record of the Thirty-first IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8707-4
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2005.1488249
