Scalable Pulsed Laser Deposition of Transparent Rear Electrode for Perovskite Solar Cells

Yury Smirnov, Laura Schmengler, Riemer Kuik, Pierre-Alexis Repecaud, Mehrdad Najafi, Dong Zhang, Mirjam Theelen, Erkan Aydin, Sjoerd Veenstra, Stefaan De Wolf, Monica Morales-Masis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sputtered transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are widely accepted transparent electrodes for several types of high-efficiency solar cells. However, the different sputtering yield of atoms makes stoichiometric transfer of target material challenging for multi-compounds. Additionally, the high kinetic energies of the arriving species may damage sensitive functional layers beneath. Conversely, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is operated at higher deposition pressures promoting thermalization of particles. This leads to stoichiometric transfer and additionally reduces the kinetic energy of ablated species. Despite these advantages, PLD is rarely used within the photovoltaic community due to concerns about low deposition rates and the scalability of the technique. In this study, wafer-scale (4-inch) PLD of high-mobility Zr-doped In2O3 (IZrO) TCO for solar cells is demonstrated. IZrO films are grown at room temperature with deposition rate on par with RF-sputtering (>4 nm min−1). As-deposited IZrO films are mostly amorphous and exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties after solid phase crystallization at
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2000856
JournalAdvanced Materials Technologies
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 12 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-01-21
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2019-CPF-4106.4
Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge Dr. Mark Smithers for SEM and EBSD measurements and Junke Wang for electron transport layer evaporation. The authors acknowledge financial support by the KAUST Center Partnership Fund Project OSR-2019-CPF-4106.4 and the SOLAR-ERA.NET, CUSTCO project. TNO is also acknowledged for financial support by the Early Research Program “Sustainability & Reliability for solar and other (opto-)electronic thin-film devices” (STAR). Y.S., P.-A.R., and M.M.-M. thank Yorick Birkhölzer for help with X-ray diffraction measurements, Dr. Jaap Geessinck and Dr. Rik Groenen (TSST), Prof. Guus Rijnders and Prof. Gertjan Koster (University of Twente) for fruitful discussions on PLD growth.

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