Flash Infrared Annealing for Perovskite Solar Cell Processing

Pui Sha Victoria Ling,Sandy Sanchez,Anders Hagfeldt

doi:10.3791/61730-v

Abstract

Organic–inorganic perovskites have an impressive potential for the design of next generation solar cells and are currently considered for upscaling and commercialization. Currently, perovskite solar cells rely on spin-coating which is neither practical for large areas nor environmentally friendly. Indeed, one of the conventional and most effective lab-scale methods to induce perovskite crystallization, the antisolvent method, requires an amount of toxic solvent that is difficult to apply on larger surfaces. To solve this problem, an antisolvent-free and rapid thermal annealing process called flash infrared annealing (FIRA) can be used to produce highly crystalline perovskite films. The FIRA oven is composed of an array of near-infrared halogen lamps with an illumination power of 3,000 kW/m2. A hollow aluminum body enables an effective water-cooling system. The FIRA method allows the synthesis of perovskite films in less than 2 s, achieving efficiencies >20%. FIRA has a unique potential for the industry because it can be adapted to continuous processing, is antisolvent-free, and does not require lengthy, hour-long annealing steps.

Highlights

Since their inception in 2009, solar cells based on lead halide perovskites have demonstrated unprecedented growth, with power conversion efficiencies (PCE) increasing from 3.8%1 to 25.2%2 in just over a decade of development
First reported in 201511, is a lowcost, environmentally friendly and rapid method for the synthesis of compact and defect-tolerant perovskite and metal oxide thin films that eliminates the need for an antisolvent and is compatible with flexible substrates
X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for all pulses and corresponding absorbance spectra are found in supplementary information S2 and S3

Summary

Introduction

Since their inception in 2009, solar cells based on lead halide perovskites have demonstrated unprecedented growth, with power conversion efficiencies (PCE) increasing from 3.8%1 to 25.2%2 in just over a decade of development. The majority of the current processing methods for PSCs involve deposition of the perovskite precursor solution, addition of an antisolvent (AS) such as chlorobenzene to induce nucleation and thermal annealing to evaporate the solvent and promote crystallization of the perovskite in the desired morphology6 , 7 , 8 , 9. First reported in 201511 , is a lowcost, environmentally friendly and rapid method for the synthesis of compact and defect-tolerant perovskite and metal oxide thin films that eliminates the need for an antisolvent and is compatible with flexible substrates. In this method, freshly-spin-coated perovskite films are exposed to near-IR radiation (700–2,500 nm, peaking at 1,073 nm). Heat is quickly dissipated via cooling from the external case, and within seconds, room temperature is reached

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