Dedicated Tool for Irradiation and Electrical Measurement of Large Surface Samples on the Beamline of a 2.5 Mev Pelletron Electron Accelerator: Application to Solar Cells

Abstract

We designed a tool allowing irradiation of large samples over a surface of A5 size dimension by means of a 2.5 MeV Pelletron electron accelerator. in situ electrical measurements (I-V, conductivity, etc.) can also be performed, in the dark or under illumination, to study radiation effects in materials. Irradiations and electrical measurements are achievable over a temperature range from 100 K to 300 K. The setup was initially developed to test real-size triple junction solar cells at low temperature within the framework of the ESA’s JUICE mission. It will be made available to users at the beginning of 2017. After a brief description of the SIRIUS irradiation facility hosted at Laboratoire des Solides Irradiés (LSI), this paper gives detailed information about the Large Surface Irradiated-Cell (LSIC) device. Preliminary results obtained during the ongoing qualification phase of the setup are also discussed.

Keywords

• SIRIUS
• electron irradiation
• triple jonction solar cell
• JUICE mission