Screen-Printed Ag/Cu Nanoparticle Paste for Low-Cost Metallization of GaAs Solar Cells

Screen printing with nanoparticle paste has long been utilized in silicon solar cells due to its low cost and high throughput. In this study, we report the application of screen-printed, low-temperature industrial nanoparticle paste, originally developed for silicon heterojunction solar cells, to metallize GaAs solar cells. Although this is preliminary work, featuring front metal gridlines with finger openings of approximately 100 µm, the fabricated devices achieved an efficiency of ~14%, a contact resistivity of ~40 mΩ·cm², and a fill factor of 83%. These results are comparable to baseline GaAs cells metallized with evaporated gold contacts. This study highlights the potential of the screen-printing method and silicon nanoparticle paste for metallizing III-V devices, offering a promising pathway to significantly reduce manufacturing costs for space applications.