Power Recovery of Radiation-Damaged Gallium Arsenide and Indium Phosphide Solar Cells
Abstract
Radiation damaging to on-orbit solar arrays was found to significantly decrease power output and efficiency. By a process of annealing, these cells can recover some of the initial performance parameters. Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Indium Phosphide (InP) solar cells were subjected to 1 MeV electron radiation by a Dynamitron linear accelerator at two fluence levels of 1E14 and 1E15 electrons/sq cm. The annealing process was varied by temperature, amount of forward biased current, light conditions and time. Both types of cells were found to be hardened to radiation; however, the InP cells were superior over the two. Multiple cycles of irradiating and annealing were performed to observe the amount of degradation and recovery. The results prove that substantial recovery will occur, particularly with the InP cells. Applying this process to on-orbit spacecraft utilizing solar arrays as the main source of power will significantly increase mission life and potentially decrease cost of the on-board power system. (KR)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA225307
Entities
People
- Corinne Cypranowski
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School