Projects per year
Abstract
Ultra-thin (less than 100 nm thick) photovoltaics are proposed as an enabling technology for space power applications due to their intrinsic radiation tolerance. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere, spacecraft are bombarded with energetic electrons and protons which can cause dislocations in the lattice structure of their solar cell materials thus limiting mission lifetimes. Certain orbits that could be advantageous for imaging, security and network coverage of the Earth are currently inaccessible due to high levels of radiation making them inhospitable to space craft. Ultra-thin cells have superior radiation tolerance but lower optical absorption which necessitates the integration of a nanophotonic light-trapping structure. The first iteration of ultra-thin 80 nm absorber layer devices patterned by Displacement Talbot Lithography has shown promising electrical and optical performance.
Original language | English |
---|---|
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:L.S. acknowledges funding from her EPSRC Doctoral Training studentship as well as from the European Research Council and UK Space Agency. L.S. also acknowledges the support of our industry partner, IQE plc.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 SPIE.
Keywords
- GaAs
- Ultra-thin
- light management
- photovoltaics
- radiation tolerance
- space applications
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Ultra-thin photovoltaics for radiation-tolerant space power systems: Proc.SPIE'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
-
Manufacturing of Nano-Engineered III-N Semiconductors
Shields, P. (PI), Allsopp, D. (CoI) & Wang, W. (CoI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/05/15 → 30/09/21
Project: Research council
-
Manufacturing of Nano-Engineered III-N Semiconductors - Equipment
Shields, P. (PI) & Allsopp, D. (CoI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/02/15 → 31/01/20
Project: Research council