Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cells via a Sputtered Cathode

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) attract great attention due to their low cost and high efficiency. In general, the Au cathode, a key component in PSCs, is prepared via an uneconomic vacuum thermal deposition method. Instead, the sputtering deposition method is much more economic and faster. However, it is generally thought that the organic hole transport layer such as 2,2′,7,7′‐tetrakis[N,N‐di(4‐methoxyphenyl)amino]‐9,9′‐spirobifluorene (Spiro‐OMeTAD) can be easily damaged by the high energy plasma during the sputtering process. Thus, the performance of the PSCs greatly decreases. Herein, the structure of the planar PSCs is carefully manipulated by matching the thickness of Spiro‐OMeTAD layer and the Au film. With the further engineering of the interface of the Au/Spiro‐OMeTAD, the planar PSCs with the sputtered Au cathode exhibit a highly reproducible average efficiency of 17.6% ± 0.8%, with the best efficiency of 18.3%. In addition, the Cu electrode is demonstrated by the sputtering method. Finally, the Au sputter deposition is scaled up to make a high efficiency (14.7%) 10 × 10 cm2 module. This demonstrates well that the sputtering deposition of the metal cathode is an effective way for the fabrication of high efficient PSCs for future industrialization.

Tin Oxide Electron‐Selective Layers for Efficient, Stable, and Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

“…Magnetron sputtering is a mature and reliable technique for lab-and industrial-scale fabrication of metal-oxide ESLs and thin films due to its distinct advantages such as high quality and uniform deposition, strong adhesion between film layers, fine control of film density and thickness, high deposition yield, and relatively low operational cost. [190][191][192] Despite these advantages, sputtering has been rarely investigated so far for SnO 2 processing for PSCs, and only one study reported PCEs values >20% for a 0.09 cm 2 cell. [193] The authors also reported a PCE of 12.03% for mini-modules (aperture area of 22.8 cm 2 ).…”

Advances in SnO2-based perovskite solar cells: from preparation to photovoltaic applications

“…Besides, the deposition process is usually operated in a high vacuum chamber, leading to high repeatability with minor damage to the natural environment. 147 Qiu and co-workers systematically investigated the chemical and physical characteristics of sputtered SnO 2 . It played a signicant role in the formation of high quality to control the oxidizing process.…”

Recent Issues and Configuration Factors in Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells towards Large Scaling Production

“…Despite many efforts in establishing wide-scale deposition of contact technologies with industrial standards methods such as sputtering for perovskite transport layers [230][231][232][233][234][235], stagnating issues of stability and hysteresis remain major concerns [236][237][238]. Similarly, the co-evaporation deposition technique in Ref.…”