Charge-induced series resistance switching in GaAs solar cells

We report the observation of an abrupt decrease in the series resistance and a concurrent steep increase in the dark current at a threshold voltage, and subsequent hysteresis in the current-voltage characteristics of GaAs p-n junction solar cells. Our data suggests that the observed switch in the series resistance can be attributed to a thin insulating layer at the contact / semiconductor interface that contributes a voltage-and-light-dependent component to the solar cell series resistance.