Electron beam induced current and cathodoluminescence study of proton irradiated quantum-well solar cells

Author

Walters, Robert J. ; Summers, G.P. ; Messenger, S.R. ; Romero, M.J. ; Araújo, D. ; García, R. ; Freundlich, A. ; Newman, F. ; Vilela, M.F.

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Firstpage

1312

Lastpage

1315

Abstract

The effects of proton irradiation on InP-based multi-quantum well solar cells (QWSCs) are investigated by the electron beam induced current (EBIC) and cathodoluminescence (CL) techniques. From analysis of the EBIC data, capture rates within the quantum wells are estimated from which the open circuit voltage is calculated and shown to agree well with the measured values. The diffusion length for radiative recombination within the quantum wells is also estimated. From Arrhenius plots of the luminescence excited in quantum wells, the proton irradiation-induced recombination centers are characterized. The results suggest that narrower wells make QWSCs more sensitive to radiation damage

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; carrier lifetime; cathodoluminescence; electron-hole recombination; indium compounds; quantum well devices; semiconductor quantum wells; solar cells; Arrhenius plots; EBIC; InP; InP-based multi-quantum well solar cells; capture rates; cathodoluminescence; diffusion length; electron beam induced current; open circuit voltage; proton irradiated quantum-well solar cells; proton irradiation; proton irradiation-induced recombination centers; radiative recombination; Degradation; Electron beams; Epitaxial growth; Indium phosphide; Laboratories; Photovoltaic cells; Protons; Quantum well devices; Quantum wells; Radiative recombination;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anchorage, AK

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5772-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2000.916132

Filename

916132