Radiation-Hard-High-Efficiency InP Space Solar Cell Development

Abstract

The persistent problems which had led to abnormally low voltages and fill factors since the beginning of the contract were solved, allowing production of cells with consistently high efficiencies. The first delivery, of 30 4 sq. cm cells, was made; the efficiencies of these cells (according to Spire measurements) ranged from 15.7% to 18.9%. These efficiencies are essentially equal to those measured in 1987 on Spire epitaxial/implanted cells, which are apparently still a record for the material. These new cells, therefore, would represent the highest efficiency for an all-epitaxial structure as well as the highest efficiency for a large cell. The sudden jump in efficiencies shows that the work done over the past six months on developing advanced thin emitters and refining the processing sequence has been fruitful. Increased collection efficiency due to the emitter improvements described in the last report contributed to the high efficiency of these cells, and simplification of the fabrication process made it possible to produce then on schedule.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA220500

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Antireflection Coatings
  • Cells
  • Efficiency
  • Evaporation
  • Fabrication
  • High Temperature
  • Low Voltage
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Pull Tests
  • Quantum Efficiency
  • Radiation
  • Resistance
  • Short Circuits
  • Solar Cells
  • Voltage
  • X Rays

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster