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Efficient planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells by vapour deposition

Nature volume 501, pages 395–398 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Many different photovoltaic technologies are being developed for large-scale solar energy conversion1,2,3,4. The wafer-based first-generation photovoltaic devices1 have been followed by thin-film solid semiconductor absorber layers sandwiched between two charge-selective contacts3 and nanostructured (or mesostructured) solar cells that rely on a distributed heterojunction to generate charge and to transport positive and negative charges in spatially separated phases4,5,6. Although many materials have been used in nanostructured devices, the goal of attaining high-efficiency thin-film solar cells in such a way has yet to be achieved7. Organometal halide perovskites have recently emerged as a promising material for high-efficiency nanostructured devices8,9,10,11. Here we show that nanostructuring is not necessary to achieve high efficiencies with this material: a simple planar heterojunction solar cell incorporating vapour-deposited perovskite as the absorbing layer can have solar-to-electrical power conversion efficiencies of over 15 per cent (as measured under simulated full sunlight). This demonstrates that perovskite absorbers can function at the highest efficiencies in simplified device architectures, without the need for complex nanostructures.

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Figure 1: Material deposition system and characterization.
Figure 2: Thin-film topology characterization.
Figure 3: Solar cell performance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by EPSRC and the European Research Council (ERC) ‘Hyper Project’ number 279881. The Oxford University Press (John Fell) Fund provided support for equipment used in this study, specifically the organic light-emitting diode vapour-deposition equipment. We thank S. Sun, E. Crossland, P. Docampo, G. Eperon, J. Zhang and J. Liu for discussions and experimental and technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK,

    Mingzhen Liu, Michael B. Johnston & Henry J. Snaith

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  1. Mingzhen Liu
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  2. Michael B. Johnston
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  3. Henry J. Snaith
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Contributions

M.L. performed the experimental work, data analysis and experimental planning. The project was conceived, planned and supervised by H.S. and M.J. The manuscript was written by all three authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henry J. Snaith.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Figure 1 Top-view SEM images for the vapour-deposited perovskite films.

a, As-deposited perovskite film; b, post-annealed perovskite film.

Extended Data Table 1 Tooling factor measurement of the dual-source vapour-deposition system.
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Extended Data Table 2 Optimized deposition conditions for the evaporated perovskite solar devices.
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Liu, M., Johnston, M. & Snaith, H. Efficient planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells by vapour deposition. Nature 501, 395–398 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12509

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