Monitoring Thermal Annealing of Perovskite Solar Cells with In Situ Photoluminescence

• Published in: Advanced energy materials 2017-04, Vol.7 (7), p.np-n/a
• Main Authors: van Franeker, Jacobus J., Hendriks, Koen H., Bruijnaers, Bardo J., Verhoeven, Martinus W. G. M., Wienk, Martijn M., Janssen, René A. J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: air‐processing; Annealing; Charge transport; Current carriers; Deposition; Experimentation; in situ; Monitoring; Optimization; Perovskites; Photoluminescence; Photovoltaic cells; Radioactivity; solar cell; Solar cells; thermal annealing; Time measurement
• ISSN: 1614-6832; 1614-6840
• DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201601822

Layer deposition of organometal halide perovskites for solar cells usually involves tedious experimentation to establish the optimum processing conditions. Important parameters are the time and temperature of thermal annealing. Here, it is demonstrated that in situ photoluminescence allows to determine the optimal annealing procedure without fabricating complete solar cells. A deposition method is used in which dense layers of perovskite crystals are formed within seconds in ambient air by hot casting a mixture of lead acetate, lead chloride, and methylammonium iodide. The as‐cast perovskite layers are highly luminescent because charge carriers are unable to reach the charge extraction layers that quench the photoluminescence. Thermal annealing enhances charge transport and quenches the photoluminescence, but deteriorates the photovoltaic performance via decomposition of the perovskite if applied for a too long time. It is demonstrated that the optimal annealing time coincides with the time required for the in situ measured photoluminescence intensity to reach its baseline value for annealing temperatures in the range of 80–100 °C. This results in efficient (>14%) perovskite solar cells and shows that in situ photoluminescence is a simple but powerful tool for in‐line quality monitoring of perovskite films. In situ photoluminescence is used to determine the optimal thermal annealing conditions of organometal halide perovskite layers, prior to completing the solar cell. The method allows fabricating efficient (>14%) planar perovskite solar cells under ambient conditions that feature good stability and low hysteresis.