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At least 19 records

Burst annealing of electron damage in silicon solar cells

A study has been performed of burst annealing of electron damage in silicon solar cells. Three groups of cells consisting of 3 and 0.3 ohm-cm silicon were exposed to fluences of 2 x 10 to the 14th power, 4 x 10 to the 14th power, and 8 x 10 to the 14th power 1-MeV electrons/sq cm, respectively. They were subsequently subjected to 1-minute bursts of annealing at 500 C. The 3 ohm-cm cells showed complete recovery from each fluence level. The 0.3 ohm-cm cells showed complete recovery from the 2 x 10 to the 14th power e/sq cm fluence; however, some of the 0.3 ohm-cm cells did not recover completely from the higher influences. From an analysis of the results it is concluded that burst annealing of moderate to high resistivity silicon cell arrays in space is feasible and that with more complete understanding, even the potentially higher efficiency low resistivity cells may be usable in annealable arrays in space.

Day, A. C.↗

Preventing Arc Welding From Damaging Electronics

Shielding technique developed to protect sensitive electronic equipment from damage due to electromagnetic disturbances produced by arc welding. Established acceptable alternative in instances in which electronic equipment cannot be removed prior to arc welding. Guidelines established for open, unshielded welds. Procedure applicable to robotics or computer-aided manufacturing.

Sargent, Noel↗

Electromagnetic Dissociation and Spacecraft Electronics Damage

When protons or heavy ions from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) or solar particle events (SPE) interact with target nuclei in spacecraft, there can be two different types of interactions. The more familiar strong nuclear interaction often dominates and is responsible for nuclear fragmentation in either the GCR or SPE projectile nucleus or the spacecraft target nucleus. (Of course, the proton does not break up, except possibly to produce pions or other hadrons.) The less familiar, second type of interaction is due to the very strong electromagnetic fields that exist when two charged nuclei pass very close to each other. This process is called electromagnetic dissociation (EMD) and primarily results in the emission of neutrons, protons and light ions (isotopes of hydrogen and helium). The cross section for particle production is approximately defined as the number of particles produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions or other types of reactions. (There are various kinematic and other factors which multiply the particle number to arrive at the cross section.) Strong, nuclear interactions usually dominate the nuclear reactions of most interest that occur between GCR and target nuclei. However, for heavy nuclei (near Fe and beyond) at high energy the EMD cross section can be much larger than the strong nuclear interaction cross section. This paper poses a question: Are there projectile or target nuclei combinations in the interaction of GCR or SPE where the EMD reaction cross section plays a dominant role? If the answer is affirmative, then EMD mechanisms should be an integral part of codes that are used to predict damage to spacecraft electronics. The question can become more fine-tuned and one can ask about total reaction cross sections as compared to double differential cross sections. These issues will be addressed in the present paper.

Norbury, John W.↗

Molecular Data for a Biochemical Model of DNA Radiation Damage: Electron Impact Ionization and Dissociative Ionization of DNA Bases and Sugar-Phosphate Backbone

As part of the database for building up a biochemical model of DNA radiation damage, electron impact ionization cross sections of sugar-phosphate backbone and DNA bases have been calculated using the improved binary-encounter dipole (iBED) model. It is found that the total ionization cross sections of C3'- and C5'-deoxyribose-phospate, two conformers of the sugar-phosphate backbone, are close to each other. Furthermore, the sum of the ionization cross sections of the separate deoxyribose and phosphate fragments is in close agreement with the C3'- and C5'-deoxyribose-phospate cross sections, differing by less than 10%. Of the four DNA bases, the ionization cross section of guanine is the largest, then in decreasing order, adenine, thymine, and cytosine. The order is in accordance with the known propensity of oxidation of the bases by ionizing radiation. Dissociative ionization (DI), a process that both ionizes and dissociates a molecule, is investigated for cytosine. The DI cross section for the formation of H and (cytosine-Hl)(+), with the cytosine ion losing H at the 1 position, is also reported. The threshold of this process is calculated to be 17.1 eV. Detailed analysis of ionization products such as in DI is important to trace the sequential steps in the biochemical process of DNA damage.

Dateo, Christopher E.↗

Proton and electron damage coefficients for GaAs/Ge solar cells

A series of electron and proton irradiations of GaAs/Ge solar cells has been carried out for the purpose of deriving radiation damage coefficients for GaAs/Ge solar cells. The electron irradiations were performed at energies of 0.6, 1.0, 2.4, and 12 MeV. The proton irradiation energies used were 0.05, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 9.5 MeV. I-V characteristics were measured before and after each irradiation. Omnidirectional damage coefficients were calculated for both electrons and protons incident on GaAs/Ge solar cells. The calculations were carried out for infinite backshielding on the cells and for eight different thicknesses of coverglass.

Anspaugh, Bruce E.↗

Inception of electronic damage of matter by photon-driven post-ionization mechanisms

“Probe-before-destroy” methodology permitted diffraction and imaging measurements of intact specimens using ultrabright but highly destructive X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses. The methodology takes advantage of XFEL pulses ultrashort duration to outrun the destructive nature of the X-rays. Atomic movement, generally on the order of >50 fs, regulates the maximum pulse duration for intact specimen measurements. In this contribution, we report the electronic structure damage of a molecule with ultrashort X-ray pulses under preservation of the atoms' positions. A detailed investigation of the X-ray induced processes revealed that X-ray absorption events in the solvent produce a significant number of solvated electrons within attosecond and femtosecond timescales that are capable of coulombic interactions with the probed molecules. The presented findings show a strong influence on the experimental spectra coming from ionization of the probed atoms' surroundings leading to electronic structure modification much faster than direct absorption of photons. This work calls for consideration of this phenomenon in cases focused on samples embedded in, e.g., solutions or in matrices, which in fact concerns most of the experimental studies.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Low-damage electron beam lithography for nanostructures on Bi 2 Te 3 -class topological insulator thin films

Nanostructured topological insulators (TIs) have the potential to impact a wide array of condensed matter physics topics, ranging from Majorana physics to spintronics. However, the most common TI materials, the Bi 2 Se 3 family, are easily damaged during nanofabrication of devices. In this paper, we show that electron beam lithography performed with a 30 or 50 kV accelerating voltage—common for nanopatterning in academic facilities—damages both nonmagnetic TIs and their magnetically doped counterparts at unacceptable levels. We additionally demonstrate that electron beam lithography with a 10 kV accelerating voltage produces minimal damage detectable through low-temperature electronic transport. In conclusion, although reduced accelerating voltages present challenges in creating fine features, we show that with careful choice of processing parameters, particularly the resist, 100 nm features are reliably achievable.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Annealing of electron damage in mid-IR transmitting fluoride glass

Damage in ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3 glass induced by high-energy electrons was studied by ESR and optical spectroscopy. An optical absorption band at 314 nm in the irradiated glass annealed rapidly above about 50 C, probably by a second-order reaction at room temperature; the ESR lines annealed very slowly at room temperature.

Bansal, Narottam P.↗