The effects of 1MeV electron irradiation upon molecular beam epitaxially grown solar cells that had been fabricated from the present materials were compared with previous data on radiation damage in InP and GaAs cells. It was found that differences in the radiation resistances of AlGaAs, GaAs and InGaAs cells could be explained in terms of band-gap energy effects upon cell degradation. It was also found that the superior radiation resistance of CuInSe2 and InP-based solar cells was due to the higher optical absorption coefficient of CuInSe2 and to the lower defect introduction rates of InP-based materials, as compared with other compound semiconductor materials.

M.Yamaguchi: Journal of Applied Physics, 1995, 78[3], 1476-80