• Energy Research

Triple junction (InGaP/GaAs/Ge) and single junction (SJ) solar cells were irradiated with electrons, protons and neutrons. The degradation of remaining factors was analyzed as function of the induced Displacement Damage Dose (DDD) calculated by means of the SR-NIEL (Screened Relativistic Non Ionizing\ Energy Loss) approach. In particular, the aim of this work is to analyze the variation of the solar cells remaining factors due to neutron irradiation with respect to those previously obtained with electrons and protons. The current analysis confirms that the degradation of the $P_{max}$ electrical parameter is related by means of the usual semi-empirical expression to the displacement dose, independently of type of the incoming particle. $I_{sc}$ and $V_{oc}$ parameters were also measured as a function of the displacement damage dose. Furthermore, a DLTS analysis was carried out on diodes - with the same epitaxial structure as the middle sub-cell - irradiated with neutrons.

The outreach program “A scuola di Astroparticelle” was proposed in 2016 by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN - Napoli Division) in collaboration with the Physics Department “Ettore Pancini” of the Federico II University in Napoli, CNR-SPIN and CNR-ISASI Institutes. Its main goal is to engage teachers and students of High Schools in astroparticle physics projects. For the third edition (2018/19), the activities, which are also part of the Italian Educational Program PCTO - “Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e per l'Orientamento”, involved 18 schools for a total of 21 projects on several topics. Some projects were strictly related to astroparticles as cosmic rays, while others were more technical, as the development of particle detectors, or cross-disciplinary projects. Students worked for the entire school year and prepared materials for the final event. More than 600 students attended the event and presented their work to a jury with a poster and an oral presentation in plenary sessions. Since 2018, the program is part of OCRA - Outreach Cosmic Ray Activities - a national outreach project of INFN with the aim of collecting, within a common framework, the numerous outreach activities in cosmic-ray field carried out at the local level. The fourth edition (2019-20), in spite of the difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has also seen the participation of 22 schools that carried out part of the activities in an online format. The project realized using the open data of the Pierre Auger Observatory will be presented in detail.