A Novel Technique for Modeling Radiation Effects in Solar Cells Utilizing SILVACO® Virtual Wafer Fabrication Software

A novel technique for modeling advanced solar cells using Silvaco^reg virtual wafer fabrication software has been previously introduced. Over the past three years the new modeling approach has been extended to cover modeling of advanced multijunction cells, design and optimizations of these devices, as well as design of new quad-junction cells. In this paper, the ATLAS device simulator from Silvaco International has been demonstrated to have the potential for predicting the effects of electron radiation in solar cells by modeling material defects. A gallium arsenide solar cell was simulated in ATLAS and compared to an actual cell with radiation defects identified using deep level transient spectroscopy techniques. The cell data were compared for various fluence levels of 1 MeV electron radiation and the results have shown an average of only five 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.