{"id":{"repo_id":"cambridge","oai_identifier":"oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/396714"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/396714","repository":{"repo_id":"cambridge","name":"Cambridge University","base_url":"https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Ultra-thin III-V photovoltaic technology for space applications","abstract":"Photovoltaic (PV) technology is a mainstream renewable energy source for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications. To achieve higher power conversion efficiency and resilience to space radiation, III-V semiconductor material-based PV technology is the leading choice for power generation in space applications. However, III-V solar cells are still limited by high material and manufacturing costs, which are further pronounced by the recent substantial reduction in launch costs. Research attention on III-V PV technology has focused on enhancing the specific power measured in watts per kilogram, and challenging the conventional reliance on thick absorbing layers and support of rigid epitaxial growth substrates. Ultra-thin III-V solar cells, enhanced with light management strategies, are well-suited to meet the demanding performance criteria of next-generation space PV systems, including high efficiency, reduced material usage for lower manufacturing cost and launch mass, and mechanical flexibility for roll-out deployment and integration into non-planar configurations. This work specifically investigated the fabrication methods of ultra-thin III-V PV technology for future scaling-up manufacturing in space applications. Integrating light management strategies requires processing solar cells off their growth substrates and introduces fabrication challenges. Conventional adhesive bonding of multi-junction III-V solar cells to cover glass and mechanical support does not effectively apply to the ultra-thin schemes due to the intrinsic mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion, and susceptibility to fabrication and environmental stressors. The adhesive-free bonding method developed in this work for transferring ultra-thin solar cells to cover glass via anodic bonding does not degrade their power generation performance and allows them to withstand the ground-based electron irradiation tests up to energy at 1 MeV with a fluence of 3.6 x 10^16 cm^-2, equivalent to > 15 years in the geostationary orbit. In the proposed glass-as-superstrate embodiment, the ultra-thin multi-junction III-V solar cells could eliminate the adhesives and growth substrate supports for significant cost reduction, and maintain high radiation resilience and power conversion efficiency.","abstract_html":"Photovoltaic (PV) technology is a mainstream renewable energy source for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications. To achieve higher power conversion efficiency and resilience to space radiation, III-V semiconductor material-based PV technology is the leading choice for power generation in space applications. However, III-V solar cells are still limited by high material and manufacturing costs, which are further pronounced by the recent substantial reduction in launch costs. Research attention on III-V PV technology has focused on enhancing the specific power measured in watts per kilogram, and challenging the conventional reliance on thick absorbing layers and support of rigid epitaxial growth substrates. Ultra-thin III-V solar cells, enhanced with light management strategies, are well-suited to meet the demanding performance criteria of next-generation space PV systems, including high efficiency, reduced material usage for lower manufacturing cost and launch mass, and mechanical flexibility for roll-out deployment and integration into non-planar configurations. This work specifically investigated the fabrication methods of ultra-thin III-V PV technology for future scaling-up manufacturing in space applications. Integrating light management strategies requires processing solar cells off their growth substrates and introduces fabrication challenges. Conventional adhesive bonding of multi-junction III-V solar cells to cover glass and mechanical support does not effectively apply to the ultra-thin schemes due to the intrinsic mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion, and susceptibility to fabrication and environmental stressors. The adhesive-free bonding method developed in this work for transferring ultra-thin solar cells to cover glass via anodic bonding does not degrade their power generation performance and allows them to withstand the ground-based electron irradiation tests up to energy at 1 MeV with a fluence of 3.6 x 10^16 cm^-2, equivalent to > 15 years in the geostationary orbit. In the proposed glass-as-superstrate embodiment, the ultra-thin multi-junction III-V solar cells could eliminate the adhesives and growth substrate supports for significant cost reduction, and maintain high radiation resilience and power conversion efficiency.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Li, Jiayi"],"institution":"University of Cambridge","degree_name":null,"degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Hirst, Louise"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-08-21","date_published":"2025-08-21","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:59Z","subjects":["III-V","solar cell","space photovoltaics","ultra-thin","radiation"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/1e5846b8-a446-40f4-999e-114a80bfd5a0/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:creator.authoridentifier","label":"Author Identifier","values":["0000000236831135"],"render_values":[{"text":"0000-0002-3683-1135","href":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3683-1135","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.125991","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.doi"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Hirst, Louise"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Li, Jiayi"]},{"key":"dc:creator.authoridentifier","label":"Author Identifier","values":["0000000236831135"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-08-21"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cambridge"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby.uri","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/396714"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["III-V","solar cell","space photovoltaics","ultra-thin","radiation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/1e5846b8-a446-40f4-999e-114a80bfd5a0/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.125991"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/c6cc2e92-225c-41f0-a53b-539145d6e023/download"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Photovoltaic (PV) technology is a mainstream renewable energy source for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications. To achieve higher power conversion efficiency and resilience to space radiation, III-V semiconductor material-based PV technology is the leading choice for power generation in space applications. However, III-V solar cells are still limited by high material and manufacturing costs, which are further pronounced by the recent substantial reduction in launch costs. Research attention on III-V PV technology has focused on enhancing the specific power measured in watts per kilogram, and challenging the conventional reliance on thick absorbing layers and support of rigid epitaxial growth substrates. Ultra-thin III-V solar cells, enhanced with light management strategies, are well-suited to meet the demanding performance criteria of next-generation space PV systems, including high efficiency, reduced material usage for lower manufacturing cost and launch mass, and mechanical flexibility for roll-out deployment and integration into non-planar configurations. This work specifically investigated the fabrication methods of ultra-thin III-V PV technology for future scaling-up manufacturing in space applications. Integrating light management strategies requires processing solar cells off their growth substrates and introduces fabrication challenges. Conventional adhesive bonding of multi-junction III-V solar cells to cover glass and mechanical support does not effectively apply to the ultra-thin schemes due to the intrinsic mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion, and susceptibility to fabrication and environmental stressors. The adhesive-free bonding method developed in this work for transferring ultra-thin solar cells to cover glass via anodic bonding does not degrade their power generation performance and allows them to withstand the ground-based electron irradiation tests up to energy at 1 MeV with a fluence of 3.6 x 10^16 cm^-2, equivalent to > 15 years in the geostationary orbit. In the proposed glass-as-superstrate embodiment, the ultra-thin multi-junction III-V solar cells could eliminate the adhesives and growth substrate supports for significant cost reduction, and maintain high radiation resilience and power conversion efficiency."]},{"key":"dc:format.checksum.md5","label":"Dc Format Checksum Md5","values":["e2118f6cfd3547e9919843eae7b41306","87eda9de84448d1f82354d60eee3eb5f"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Ultra-thin III-V photovoltaic technology for space applications"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Hirst, Louise"],"dc:creator":["Li, Jiayi"],"dc:creator.authoridentifier":["0000000236831135"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-08-21"],"dc:description.abstract":["Photovoltaic (PV) technology is a mainstream renewable energy source for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications. To achieve higher power conversion efficiency and resilience to space radiation, III-V semiconductor material-based PV technology is the leading choice for power generation in space applications. However, III-V solar cells are still limited by high material and manufacturing costs, which are further pronounced by the recent substantial reduction in launch costs. Research attention on III-V PV technology has focused on enhancing the specific power measured in watts per kilogram, and challenging the conventional reliance on thick absorbing layers and support of rigid epitaxial growth substrates. Ultra-thin III-V solar cells, enhanced with light management strategies, are well-suited to meet the demanding performance criteria of next-generation space PV systems, including high efficiency, reduced material usage for lower manufacturing cost and launch mass, and mechanical flexibility for roll-out deployment and integration into non-planar configurations. This work specifically investigated the fabrication methods of ultra-thin III-V PV technology for future scaling-up manufacturing in space applications. Integrating light management strategies requires processing solar cells off their growth substrates and introduces fabrication challenges. Conventional adhesive bonding of multi-junction III-V solar cells to cover glass and mechanical support does not effectively apply to the ultra-thin schemes due to the intrinsic mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion, and susceptibility to fabrication and environmental stressors. The adhesive-free bonding method developed in this work for transferring ultra-thin solar cells to cover glass via anodic bonding does not degrade their power generation performance and allows them to withstand the ground-based electron irradiation tests up to energy at 1 MeV with a fluence of 3.6 x 10^16 cm^-2, equivalent to > 15 years in the geostationary orbit. 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