Radiation hard In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As solar cells with Zn diffused emitters

This paper reports on the radiation resistance of In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As (InGaAs) cells with a p/n configuration. These solar cells can be used as bottom cells in high-efficiency tandems with wide gap top cells and as thermophotovoltaic converters. The cells designed for this study were fabricated by diffusion of Zn into undoped layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). Cells with a total area of 0.16 cm/sup 2/ were used to carry out these measurements. After 1-MeV electron irradiation at a fluence level of 1/spl times/10/sup 16/ cm/sup -2/, the following values were typically found in the samples used for this study. V/sub OC/=0.26-0.29 V; J/sub SC/=38-40 mA/cm/sup 2/; FF=0.59-0.60; efficiency=4.2-4.5% (AM0, 1 Sun).