Nitrogen containing diamond-like carbon films as protective and fluorescent layers for silicon solar cells

Thick (1300-1500 nm) diamond like carbon (DLC) films deposited on a working side of a solar cell (SC) allow us to increase its stability relating to the effect of proton and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. So, one-stage (E=50 keV) or multi-energy (50+100 keV) implantation of proton into protected SC (the S.C. + DLC films system) did not practically influence SC parameters. Moreover, SC covered by DLC film after UV irradiation shows improvement in efficiency both for implanted and unimplanted samples. At the same time the unprotected SC deteriorated after those treatments. The effects observed are connected with decreasing reflection losses due to deposition of DLC films, re-emission by DLC film of absorbed ultraviolet light in visible spectral range, and self-annealing of radiation damages in implanted DLC films due to light - induced hydrogen bonding. The results obtained have opened up a wide variety of potential applications of DLC films, especially for space solar cells.