This process for manufacturing a photovoltaic cell consists in: producing a semiconductor substrate (10) comprising first and second opposite sides (12, 16); producing, in the first side (12) of the substrate (10), a first semiconductor zone (14) doped by implanting first dopant elements into the thickness of the substrate and by thermally activating the first implanted dopant elements at a first activation temperature; and producing, on the second side (16) of the substrate (10), a second semiconductor zone (18) by implanting second dopant elements into the thickness of the substrate and by thermally activating the second implanted dopant elements at a second activation temperature that is below the first activation temperature. The substrate is more than 50 microns in thickness and at least the thermal activation of the first dopant elements is carried out by laser irradiation, the irradiation parameters being chosen so that the radiation is absorbed at most in a depth of the first micron of the substrate.