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Ultra-thin III-V photovoltaic technology for space applications https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.125991 Li, Jiayi 0000000236831135 Hirst, Louise 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. University of Cambridge 2025-08-21 Thesis Doctoral eng https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/396714 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/c6cc2e92-225c-41f0-a53b-539145d6e023/download e2118f6cfd3547e9919843eae7b41306 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/1e5846b8-a446-40f4-999e-114a80bfd5a0/download 87eda9de84448d1f82354d60eee3eb5f http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved III-V solar cell space photovoltaics ultra-thin radiation