Manufacturing improvement of IMM solar cells and flex string arrays on the AFRL Mantech program

The manufacturing improvement of IMM solar cells and flex string arrays (FSAs) is a focus of the AFRL-funded IMM Mantech program. Significant manufacturability improvements have been achieved to date, with focus on reduction in materials cost and touch labor, process automation, and demonstration of large area IMM cells (≥ 60cm
²
) on 4” and 6” wafers. Confidence testing of FSAs encompassing multiple roll/unroll cycles, hot and cold rolled soak, vibration testing, thermal vacuum (TVAC) and hot GEO thermal cycling has shown negligible degradation of power output.