Photonically Cured Solution-Processed SnO2 Thin Films for High-Efficiency and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells and Minimodules

Abstract

High-throughput fabrication of metal oxide thin films is always a bottleneck for solution-processed perovskite solar cells. Here, we report a rapid photonic curing process, with a well-controlled train of short light pulses, to develop bilayer (colloidal and blocking layer) SnO2 thin films used as electron transport layers in perovskite ((FA0.83MA0.17)0.95Cs0.05PbI2.5Br0.5, 1.62 eV band gap) photovoltaic devices (n–i–p architecture) with an optimized efficiency of 21.1% alongside good ambient and operational (MPPT) stability. The strong dependency of the photonic curing pulse parameters on device properties is investigated, and we established a corroboration between the chemical properties of the as-cured SnO2 and the optoelectronic performance of the devices and the interface quality. Furthermore, we show that the futile removal of the chloride species in photonically cured SnO2 is an added advantage against the thermally annealed ones regarding charge transport and lower interfacial recombination. Furthermore, the process is impeccably scaled up to demonstrate a series-connected minimodule (16 cm2) with 18.2% efficiency.