Single-Source Pulsed Laser Deposition of MAPbI₃

Abstract

As the employment of halide perovskite films in single-junction and tandem solar cells continues to soar, there is a strong drive -from academia to industry-to produce these films using dry processes, avoiding the use of toxic solvents. Vapor deposition methods such as co-evaporation have shown advantages of solvent-free approaches to produce high-efficiency solar cells. However, co-evaporation requires the use of multiple sources that challenge the deposition rate control of complex halide perovskite compositions. Here, Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is proposed as an alternative method to deposit hybrid halide perovskites films from a single-source and following a fully dry approach. We use the archetypical methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) to demonstrate the formation of high-quality films with optimal optoelectronic properties by PLD on various substrates for single-junction and tandem devices. Furthermore, the important role of the PLD target composition and deposition parameters to achieve control over film microstructure and optoelectronic properties is discussed. The controlled conformal growth provided by PLD demonstrated in this work with MAPbI3 on device-relevant substrates will broaden opportunities to explore PLD of more complex hybrid halide perovskite compositions for efficient, stable, and scalable solar cell devices.

Incremental Feeding of Perovskite Powders: Angstrom‐Precision Growth for Single‐Source Solar Cell Fabrication

“…The reported error represents the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the data. The evaporation rates (Å pulse À1 ) observed here approach those found in the literature for halide perovskites deposited by PLD at 0.55 Å pulse À1 for MAPbI 3 , [34] 0.5 Å pulse À1 for CsSnI 3 , [43] and 0.21 Å pulse À1 for Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 . [44] By increasing the number of pulses, which is easily controlled, we are able to grow thick films of perovskites.…”

“…Similarly, Tai et al [33] used a laser-induced flash-evaporation process yielding 16.8% efficient devices and parallel advances in pulsed laser deposition reported 14% efficient devices with a MA x FA 1Àx PbI 3 composition, demonstrating the transfer of multiple organic cations as a single-source. [34,35] However, the lasers involved in such deposition systems can be cost-prohibitive for deployment in large-scale, such as those needed for PV.…”

Single-Source Pulsed Laser Deposited Perovskite Solar Cells with >19% Efficiency

“…Non-stoichiometric ratios of the inorganic to the organic components (PbI 2 /PbCl 2 : MAI/FAI = 1:8) were used as determined in previous work. 11 The mol ratio of the organic components MAI: FAI was chosen as 75:25 as optimized in a previous work. 12 The PbCl 2 content in the target was varied from 0-50 mol% with respect to PbI as received, were transferred to zirconia-coated vials containing zirconia beds and mixed using a housebuilt rotatory ball miller.…”

Vapor phase deposition of perovskite photovoltaics: short track to commercialization?

“…This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2024 one source, given the inevitable decomposition of the organic halides at the elevated temperatures required to simultaneously deposit the inorganic compounds. While alternative single-source techniques such as laser deposition or sputtering were proposed, 44,82,83 they were not able to fully leave the ''comfort zone'' either because of lower performance or only limited improvements in deposition speed and proof of their suitability in an industrial setting is yet to be demonstrated. Classical multisource co-evaporation approaches, which are the most successful approaches when it comes to versatility and performance on a laboratory scale, do not offer much room for improvements either (other than geometrical source considerations discussed before), as they are similarly limited by the maximum accessible deposition rate of the organic compounds.…”