A direct correlation between structural and morphological defects of TiO2 thin films on FTO substrates and photovoltaic performance of planar perovskite solar cells

• Published in: Materials science in semiconductor processing 2023-07, Vol.161, p.107452, Article 107452
• Main Authors: Millán-Franco, Mario A., Rodríguez-Castañeda, Carlos A., Moreno-Romero, Paola M., Prias-Barragán, Jhon Jairo, Jaramillo-Quintero, Oscar A., Hu, Hailin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Crystallinity; FTO surface Roughness; Morphological defects; Planar perovskite solar cells; Thermal annealing; TiO2 thin films
• ISSN: 1369-8001; 1873-4081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2023.107452

Titanium oxide (TiO2) precursor is often deposited on conductive fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) to convert into crystalline anatase phase after a thermal annealing at 400–550 °C. A higher annealing temperature can increase the crystallinity of TiO2, but it may also induce morphological changes in both TiO2 and FTO. In this work, structural and morphological changes in thermally annealed FTO and TiO2/FTO are identified and semi-quantified by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron and atomic force microscopies. 400 °C annealed TiO2 shows the lowest crystallinity and the highest dislocation density, giving a poor photovoltaic performance of planar perovskite solar cells (p-PSCs). 550 °C annealed TiO2 exhibits the highest crystallinity and lowest dislocation density, but at such temperature the FTO films undergo an increase of surface roughness by more than 25%. As a result, 550 °C annealed TiO2 coatings on FTO substrates show the highest concentration of surface fracture and a larger exposed area of FTO, permitting a direct contact of upcoming perovskite with the FTO substrate. TiO2 thin films annealed at 450 or 500 °C show a compromising between the crystalline structure and defect density, giving a better energy conversion efficiency of 16.3% of p-PSCs prepared under ambient conditions. [Display omitted] •Thermal annealing induces crystalline and morphological changes in TiO2 and FTO.•Fractures at TiO2 surface are originated from FTO morphological changes.•Significant roughness changes in 550 °C annealed TiO2 are observed.•Crystallinity and morphology of TiO2 thin films matter in planar perovskite solar cells.