Preparation of TiO2/SnO2 Electron Transport Layer for Performance Enhancement of All-Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells Using Electron Beam Evaporation at Low Temperature

Abstract

SnO2 has attracted much attention due to its low-temperature synthesis (ca. 140 °C), high electron mobility, and low-cost manufacturing. However, lattice mismatch and oxygen vacancies at the SnO2/CsPbI3−xBrx interface generally lead to undesirable nonradiative recombination in optoelectronic devices. The traditional TiO2 used as the electron transport layer (ETL) for all-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) requires high-temperature sintering and crystallization, which are not suitable for the promising flexible PSCs and tandem solar cells, raising concerns about surface defects and device uniformity. To address these challenges, we present a bilayer ETL consisting of a SnO2 layer using electron beam evaporation and a TiO2 layer through the hydrothermal method, resulting in an enhanced performance of the perovskite solar cell. The bilayer device exhibits an improved power conversion efficiency of 11.48% compared to the single-layer device (8.09%). The average fill factor of the bilayer electron transport layer is approximately 15% higher compared to the single-layer electron transport layer. Through a systematic investigation of the use of ETL for CsPb3−xBrx PSCs on optical and electronic properties, we demonstrate that the SnO2/TiO2 is an efficient bilayer ETL for PSCs as it significantly enhances the charge extraction capability, suppresses carrier recombination at the ETL/perovskite interface, facilitates efficient photogenerated carrier separation and transport, and provides high current density and reduced hysteresis.

Robust electron transport layers of SnO2 for efficient perovskite solar cells: recent advances and perspectives

“…Compared with other low-cost PVD processes, E-beam evaporation also has very high material utilization efficiency. 87 In 2017, Ma et al prepared PSCs with a SnO 2 -ETL by the E-beam evaporation method at a low-temperature for the first time (Fig. 3f).…”