Radiation Resistance of α-Si:H/Si Heterojunction Solar Cells with a Thin i-α-Si:H Inner Layer

Abstract

We have studied the degradation of photoelectric characteristics of heterojunction solar cell samples based on α-Si:H/Si structures upon irradiation by electrons with an energy of 3.8 MeV and fluences of 1 × 10¹²–1 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2. It is shown that the efficiency of the samples of heterojunction solar cell elements under the conditions of AM0 illumination (0.136 W/cm²) is reduced by 25% at a fluence of 2 × 10¹³ cm^–2. This is more than an order of magnitude higher than the critical fluence value achieved previously when silicon solar cells with a p–n junction and an n-type base were irradiated by high-energy electrons.