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arXiv · 1909.13346

Initial Assessment of Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cells as Large-Area Sensors for Precise Flux Calibration

Sasha Brownsberger·Nicholas Mondrik·Christopher W. Stubbs
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Abstract

As the precision frontier of large-area survey astrophysics advances towards the one millimagnitude level, flux calibration of astronomical instrumentation remains an ongoing challenge. We describe initial testing of silicon solar cells as large-aperture precise calibration photodiodes. We present measurements of dark current, linearity, frequency response, spatial response uniformity, and noise characteristics of the Sunpower C60 solar cells, an interdigitated back-contact 125mm x 125mm monocrystalline solar cell. We find that these devices hold considerable promise as large-area flux calibration sensors and warrant further characterization.

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Sasha Brownsberger, Nicholas Mondrik, Christopher W. Stubbs. 2019-09-29. Initial Assessment of Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cells as Large-Area Sensors for Precise Flux Calibration. https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.13346

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