High Power Laser and Particle Beams, Volume. 37, Issue 3, 035022(2025)

Simulation study on radiation damage effects of GaAs solar cells in space

Jiaxin Wei1, Jianhong Hao1, Qiang Zhao2、*, Jieqing Fan1, Fang Zhang2, Bixi Xue2, and Zhiwei Dong2
Author Affiliations
  • 1School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
  • 2Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China
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    Spacecraft have to be exposed to complex and harsh space radiation environments for a long time during their in-orbit service. III-V compound solar cells, represented by GaAs, are widely used in the aerospace field due to their high photoelectric conversion efficiency and radiation resistance. The spatial radiation damage effect of GaAs solar cells was studied using finite element method and technology computer-aided design (TCAD). Based on the electrical parameters of GaAs solar cells under AM0 spectral irradiation, a single-junction solar cell structure model and irradiation damage model were established. The volt ampere characteristic curves of the cells under different electron irradiation conditions were obtained, and the simulation results in this paper were verified with existing experimental results. The degradation law of GaAs solar cell electrical performance under space environment irradiation was analyzed. The results indicate that irradiation damage defects reduce the diffusion length of minority carriers and decrease the collection efficiency of photo generated carriers. At a certain electron energy, the degradation amplitude of the electrical performance of solar cells increases with the increase of irradiation dose level.

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    Jiaxin Wei, Jianhong Hao, Qiang Zhao, Jieqing Fan, Fang Zhang, Bixi Xue, Zhiwei Dong. Simulation study on radiation damage effects of GaAs solar cells in space[J]. High Power Laser and Particle Beams, 2025, 37(3): 035022

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    Paper Information

    Category: Cutting-edge Interdisciplinary Technologies and Applications of Special Power Supplies

    Received: Aug. 23, 2024

    Accepted: Dec. 10, 2024

    Published Online: Apr. 29, 2025

    The Author Email: Qiang Zhao (zhaoq.@iapcm.ac.cn)

    DOI:10.11884/HPLPB202537.240272

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