Heteroface Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells Electron Induced Degradation Analytical Model

A model is presented which allows the calculation of the electron induced degradation in heteroface AlGaAs-GaAs solar cells. The temperature dependence of the semiconductor parameters is also included. The radiation effects have been modeled by the minority carrier lifetime degradation. The best agreement with experimental results is obtained when the recombination center capture cross section in p-GaAs region has a value of 4 10-12cm2 and the introduction rate is set to 0.1 cm-1. An optimum thickness of the p-GaAs layer of 0.3¿m has been found. In this geometry, the temperature variation of the efficiency has a coefficient of 32.2K which is consistent with experimental data.