Impact of Proton and Electron Irradiation-Induced Defects on the Dark Current of GaAs Solar Cells

The same amount of non-ionizing energy is deposited in GaAs solar cells through 1 MeV proton and electron radiation at specific fluence values. The defects created are detected and characterized via temperature-dependent dark I-V analysis, and the energy levels are correlated to trap states observed via admittance spectroscopy. A remarkable difference is observed between the defect energy levels introduced in the proton and electron cases: in the former, the recombination centers lie around the mid-gap position, while in the latter they are spread over a wider energy range in the band-gap. This induces a profound difference in the degradation of the recombination current in the space-charge region. On the other hand, the degradation of the diffusion current in the neutral regions is found to be determined by the recombination velocities at the back and front hetero-interfaces of the solar cell. They depend only on the displacement damage dose and are independent of the particle type.