Interfacial Effects of Tin Oxide Atomic Layer Deposition in Metal Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics

Metal halide perovskites offer a wide and tunable bandgap, making them promising candidates for top-cell absorbers in tandem photovoltaics. In this work, the authors aim to understand the atomic layer deposition (ALD) precursor-perovskite interactions of the tin oxide ALD system and the role of organic fullerenes at the perovskite-tin oxide interface while establishing a framework for developing alternative perovskite-compatible ALD processes in the future. It is shown, in the case of tin oxide ALD growth with tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin(IV) and water on FA(0.83)Cs(0.17)Pb(I0.83Br0.17)(3) perovskite, that perovskite stability is most sensitive to metal-organic exposure at elevated temperatures with an onset near 110 degrees C, resulting in removal of the formamidinium cation. Transitioning from ALD to pulsed-chemical vapor deposition tin oxide growth can minimize the degradation effects. Investigation of fullerenes at the perovskite interface shows that thin fullerene layers offer minor improvements to perovskite stability under ALD conditions, but significant enhancement in carrier extraction. Fullerene materials are undesirable due to fabrication cost and poor mechanical stability. Compositional tuning of the perovskite material can improve the fullerene-free device performance. This method is demonstrated with a bromine-rich perovskite phase to enable an 8.2% efficient perovskite device with all-inorganic extraction layers.