Perovskite Solar Cell Fabrication Techniques

Perovskite solar cells have emerged as a leading candidate for next-generation photovoltaics owing to their exceptional light absorption, tunable bandgaps and low fabrication costs. Fabrication techniques broadly fall into solution-processing routes and vapour-based methods. Solution routes—such as one-step spin coating, two-step sequential deposition and antisolvent engineering—enable rapid film formation and have driven record efficiencies. However, solvent residues and limited uniformity over large areas pose challenges for scale-up. Vapour-based approaches—including thermal evaporation, co-evaporation, hybrid chemical vapour deposition and pulsed laser deposition—offer solvent-free, conformal coatings with precise thickness control, improved reproducibility and compatibility with roll-to-roll manufacture. Hybrid methods combine features of both, for instance by depositing inorganic precursors via evaporation and introducing organic components in a controlled vapour phase. Across all methods, interfacial engineering and passivation strategies are vital to suppress defect states, enhance carrier lifetimes and boost stability under operational conditions. Advances in tailored deposition parameters, precursor stoichiometry and post-deposition treatments continue to drive perovskite devices towards commercial viability by reconciling high performance, long-term stability and scalable production.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated a one-step chemical vapour deposition protocol for planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells, yielding compact films of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ and mixed-halide compositions with grain sizes exceeding one micrometre and carrier lifetimes up to 120 ns. Systematic optimisation of substrate temperature and growth duration produced power conversion efficiencies above 11 %, marking the first high-efficiency perovskite devices fabricated entirely by CVD. In parallel, single-source physical vapour deposition at room temperature has been shown to deliver uniform CH₃NH₃PbI₃ films without post-annealing. This approach circumvents the need for dual-source evaporation and high-temperature crystallisation, achieving full surface coverage, moisture stability and efficiencies near 11 %. Both methods underscore the potential of vapour deposition to produce reproducible, high-quality perovskite layers under industrially relevant conditions.

Perovskite Solar Cell Fabrication Techniques publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in perovskite solar cell fabrication techniques across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Perovskite: A crystal structure with formula ABX₃, where A and B are cations and X is an anion; valued in photovoltaics for strong light absorption and charge transport.

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD): A thin-film fabrication technique in which gaseous precursors react or decompose on a substrate to form a solid layer.

Thermal evaporation: A vacuum-based process where source materials are heated until they vaporise and condense onto a cooler substrate as a thin film.

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD): A physical vapour deposition method employing high-energy laser pulses to ablate material from a target, resulting in precise film growth.

Passivation: Surface or grain-boundary treatment that reduces electronic defect states and nonradiative recombination in semiconducting films.

Tandem solar cell: A device comprising stacked absorber layers of different bandgaps, designed to capture a broader spectral range and increase overall efficiency.

References

1. Vacuum-Deposited Wide-Bandgap Perovskite for All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells. ACS Energy Letters (2023).
2. Single‐Source Vapor‐Deposition of MA1–xFAxPbI3 Perovskite Absorbers for Solar Cells. Advanced Functional Materials (2023).
3. Tailoring Interface Energies via Phosphonic Acids to Grow and Stabilize Cubic FAPbI3 Deposited by Thermal Evaporation. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2024).
4. High performance perovskite solar cells by hybrid chemical vapor deposition. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2014).
5. Fabrication of efficient planar perovskite solar cells using a one-step chemical vapor deposition method. Scientific Reports (2015).
6. High-performance perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 thin films for solar cells prepared by single-source physical vapour deposition. Scientific Reports (2016).
7. The Future of Perovskite Photovoltaics—Thermal Evaporation or Solution Processing?. Advanced Energy Materials (2020).