Thermal-stress distribution and damage characteristics of three-junction GaAs solar cell irradiated by continuous laser beam

According to the theory of Fourier heat transfer and thermal stress field, a model on thermal damage of three-junction GaAs solar cell is established. The temperature and thermal-stress distribution inside the solar cell, which irradiated by continuous laser, are calculated. Results show that the temperature and thermal-stress distribution are corresponded to the intensity distribution of the incident laser beam. The maximum values of the compressive and tensile stress increase with the increasing of the power density and waist radius of the incident laser. When the waist radius is 0.5 cm, the melting damage is the main damage pattern as the power density is below about 40 W/cm2. However, when the laser power density is higher the stress damage will change to the main damage form. As the waist radius increases, the change in damage processes will also occur at lower laser power density.