Sublimed C60 for efficient and repeatable perovskite-based solar cells

Ahmed A. Said (), Erkan Aydin (), Esma Ugur, Zhaojian Xu, Caner Deger, Badri Vishal, Aleš Vlk, Pia Dally, Bumin K. Yildirim, Randi Azmi, Jiang Liu, Edward A. Jackson, Holly M. Johnson, Manting Gui, Henning Richter, Anil R. Pininti, Helen Bristow, Maxime Babics, Arsalan Razzaq, Suman Mandal, Thomas G. Allen, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, Martin Ledinský, Ilhan Yavuz, Barry P. Rand and Stefaan De Wolf ()
Additional contact information
Ahmed A. Said: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Erkan Aydin: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Esma Ugur: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Zhaojian Xu: Princeton University
Caner Deger: Marmara University
Badri Vishal: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Aleš Vlk: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Pia Dally: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Bumin K. Yildirim: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Randi Azmi: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Jiang Liu: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Edward A. Jackson: Nano-C, Inc., 33 Southwest Park
Holly M. Johnson: Princeton University
Manting Gui: Princeton University
Henning Richter: Nano-C, Inc., 33 Southwest Park
Anil R. Pininti: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Helen Bristow: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Maxime Babics: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Arsalan Razzaq: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Suman Mandal: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Thomas G. Allen: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Thomas D. Anthopoulos: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)
Martin Ledinský: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Ilhan Yavuz: Marmara University
Barry P. Rand: Princeton University
Stefaan De Wolf: Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE)

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Thermally evaporated C60 is a near-ubiquitous electron transport layer in state-of-the-art p–i–n perovskite-based solar cells. As perovskite photovoltaic technologies are moving toward industrialization, batch-to-batch reproducibility of device performances becomes crucial. Here, we show that commercial as-received (99.75% pure) C60 source materials may coalesce during repeated thermal evaporation processes, jeopardizing such reproducibility. We find that the coalescence is due to oxygen present in the initial source powder and leads to the formation of deep states within the perovskite bandgap, resulting in a systematic decrease in solar cell performance. However, further purification (through sublimation) of the C60 to 99.95% before evaporation is found to hinder coalescence, with the associated solar cell performances being fully reproducible after repeated processing. We verify the universality of this behavior on perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells by demonstrating their open-circuit voltages and fill factors to remain at 1950 mV and 81% respectively, over eight repeated processes using the same sublimed C60 source material. Notably, one of these cells achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 30.9%. These findings provide insights crucial for the advancement of perovskite photovoltaic technologies towards scaled production with high process yield.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44974-0

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