A solar cell comprising a bulk germanium silicon growth substrate; a diffused photoactive junction in the germanium silicon substrate; and a sequence of subcells grown over the substrate, with the first grown subcell either being lattice matched or lattice mis-matched to the growth substrate.

A method for forming a photovoltaic device includes providing a substrate. A layer is deposited to form one or more layers of a photovoltaic stack on the substrate. The depositing of the amorphous layer includes performing a high power flash deposition for depositing a first portion of the layer. A low power deposition is performed for depositing a second portion of the layer.