The Effect of Gamma Irradiation on the Electrophysical Parameters of Nickel-Doped Silicon Solar Cells

The results of the studies of changes in the electro-physical parameters (V-oc, open circuit voltage; I-sc, short-circuit current density; tau, lifetime of nonequilibrium charge carriers) of photocells made on plates of monocrystalline silicon of the p-type conductivity with the specific resistance rho 0.5 Ohm cm, doped with nickel, under irradiation with gamma-quanta from Co-60 source are presented. It is shown that the efficiency of the solar energy conversion in nickel-doped photovoltaic cells remains higher than in standard cells up to irradiation doses of 10(8) rad. It was established that radiation stability of electrophysical parameters of photovoltaic cells also increases with increasing diffusion temperature of nickel atoms. A decrease in the concentration of recombination-active radiation defects is due to the gettering by nickel atoms of technological (background) impurities and the action of nickel clusters as effluents for radiation-induced vacancies.