These materials were fi rst explored in solar cells as recently as 2006 [ 1,2 ] and in solidstate solar cells as recently as 2012, [ 3,4 ] and have since seen an unprecedented increase in power conversion effi ciency (PCE). Building upon the initial results through device optimization and materials purifi cation, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) can now exhibit unstabilized PCEs in excess of 20%, signifi cantly outperforming competing classes of next generation photovoltaics. [ 5 ] In parallel with these developments, there has been a signifi cant improvement in the understanding of the physical properties of these materials. This not only includes the operating principles of different PSC architectures, but also fabrication methods compatible with large scale and low cost manufacturing. [6][7][8] Combining these factors, it is clear that organometal halide perovskites have signifi cant promise as a family of semiconductors for solar energy harvesting in commercial applications.To fabricate PSCs, a range of techniques have been employed for the deposition and formation of the light harvesting perovskite layer. These include vacuum deposition of the perovskite components [ 9 ] and solution deposition of perovskite precursor inks. [ 10 ] Two approaches can be adopted for solution deposition, commonly referred to as either "one-step" or "two-step" processing. In the one-step process, blends of a lead salt and an organic component (e.g., lead (II) chloride and methylammonium iodide) are dissolved in a common solvent such as dimethylformamide (DMF) or dimethyl sulfoxide and cast to form a thin fi lm, typically having a thickness of a few hundred nanometers. Following solution casting, thermal annealing is then used to create the perovskite structure. The simplicity of this approach has afforded the straightforward transfer of one-step processing from small area deposition methods (e.g., spin-casting) to techniques that are compatible with large-area substrates such as spray-coating [ 6,11 ] and inkjet printing. [ 12 ] In contrast, in the two-step process, a perovskite fi lm is formed via the initial deposition of a fi lm of a lead salt followed by its exposure to an organic halide, either in a vapor or a solution phase. [ 8,[13][14][15][16] Because both one-step and two-step procedures have been used to produce high performance PSCs, [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] both continue to be investigated in order to understand the basic mechanisms of perovskite formation and thus identify routes for further improvements in PSC effi ciency.Here, we characterize the formation of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3− x Cl x via thermal annealing in air of a precursor fi lm prepared using the one-step procedure. A combination of 2D grazing incidence
IntroductionIn recent years organometal halide perovskites have become the hot topic of solar cell research within the academic community. Grazing incidence wide and small angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS and GISAXS) measurements have been used to study the crystallization kinetics of the organolead halide pero...