Screen Printed Contacts to III-V Epilayers for Low Cost Photovoltaics

MicroLink Devices has deposited Ag contacts via screen printing on n-GaAs epilayers on 150 mm GaAs wafers. We print either directly on n-GaAs or on an electron-beam evaporated seed layer. After annealing and self-aligned etch back, we achieve printed spaces of ~70 μm, contact resistances of <;1 Ω, and specific contact resistivities of ~1×10
^-3
Ω·cm
²
. Our results demonstrate an alternative, low-cost, and high-throughput method for contacting III-V solar cells.