A touch-screen controlled, robot-loading system for the Thomas Swan 7 x 2 flip-top showerhead reactor has been developed. The reactor has been configured for the growth of GaAs and InP materials and has been used to prepare strain-balanced MQW (SBMQW) pin solar cell material on GaAs substrates. Both material characterisation and solar cell performance for SBMQW pin cells are described. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.