In this work, the effects of He ion and electron beam irradiations to the substrate-type CdTe solar cells, which was suitable for the detection of alpha and beta radiation, were investigated. He ion irradiation revealed that the induced current proportionally increased with the increase of He ion current and that it was possible to detect alpha radiation using the substrate-type CdTe solar cell dosimeter. Next, the electron irradiation effects were investigated. The induced current proportional to the electron flux was also observed, and the sensitivity depended on the electron energy. In addition, the degradation of substrate-type CdTe solar cell dosimeter by electron beam irradiation was investigated. No significant degradation in short-circuit current was observed by the electron irradiation of 3×1016 cm-2 at 200 keV and 1×1016 cm-2 at 400 keV. This result suggests that the substrate-type CdTe solar cell dosimeter is sufficiently resistant to electron irradiation.

A Zn(O,S) thin-film is deposited utilizing an open-air chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method by evaporating zinc-diethyldithiocarbamate, which is a non-vacuum and a dry process. In an X-ray diffraction measurement, it is revealed that the films have a wurtzite structure and an [O]/([O] + [S]) ratio of 10%. A bandgap energy of 3.1 eV is estimated from transmittance and reflectance spectra. By applying the Zn(O,S) as a n-type buffer layer, Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells are fabricated. In the current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics, distortion is observed at the bias voltages above open-circuit voltage. It is implied that a large conduction band offset exists at a Zn(O,S)/CIGS interface. A quantum efficiency spectrum at a wavelength region of 380–512 nm is improved compared to a traditional CdS buffer layer. Finally, a 9.2%-efficient CIGS solar cell is demonstrated utilizing the Zn(O,S) buffer layer thorough an all-dry process.