Photodiodes, phototransistors and solar cells behaviour in environment with gamma and neutron radiation: literature review and experiments

Abstract

Due to its wide application areas, optoelectronic devices are exposed, in their work enviroment, to different types of radiation. Photodiodes, phototransistors and solar cells are most common used optoelectronic devices. Therefore, a number of experiments were performed on these devices in order to explain their behavior in the environment with pronounced gamma and neutron radiation. Especially when these two types of radiation appear successively. This paper presents review of these researches and scientific papers based on them. A number of PIN photodiodes, phototransistors and solar panels have been exposed to gamma radiation, neutron radiation and, especially, to their combination. Several types of photodiodes, phototransistors and solar panels were used in the experiment. I-V characteristics (current dependance on voltage) and other output parameters have been measured before and after irradiation. Some unusual behavior were observed.