7/8/2020 Minjoo Larry Lee, Holonyak Lab
Holonyak Lab student Ryan Hool won a Best Student Presentation Prize at a recent IEEE Conference.
Written by Minjoo Larry Lee, Holonyak Lab
Ryan Hool, a graduate student in Minjoo Larry Lee’s research group, won a Best Student Presentation Prize at the 2020 IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference for his talk "Electron irradiation study of metamorphic 1.7 eV GaAsP solar cells.”
Earth-orbiting satellites are exposed to damaging doses of ionizing radiation including both high-energy electrons and protons trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field. Most satellites are expected to work for years with solar panels providing all or most of their energy needs and without any prospects for hands-on maintenance or repairs. In his talk, Hool, a materials science and engineering student, showed that GaAsP solar cells show promise for use in space due to their high retention of efficiency after heavy exposure to high-energy electrons. The performance of tandem solar cells based on GaAsP grown on low-cost Si has risen rapidly over the past few years due to work at HMNTL and elsewhere, making them a candidate for satellite and other aerospace applications.
Hool’s research was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship and NSF CBET Grant. Co-authors includie Lee group members, Dr. Shizhao Fan and Dr. Yukun Sun, and collaborators at NASA Glenn Research Center, AnnaMaria Pal and Jeremiah McNatt.