System for fabrication and characterisation of novel perovskite solar cells

本文的提案是为新型钙钛矿光伏器件的实验探索提供仪器系统。该设备支持的研究计划的总体目标是开发新的涂层，纳米结构几何形状和优化的设备配置，以扩大太阳能的可用性和公平性。这台设备将代表我实验室光化学实验研究的开始，并将使我博士和博士后研究的重点扩展到我在西方大学的新实验项目。该系统主要由旋涂机和狭缝模头涂布机组成，以提供标准钙钛矿材料沿着所需空穴和电子传输层的工业相关制造工艺;用于器件加速寿命测试的环境室;以及用于确定器件光谱分辨效率的内部量子效率测量系统。由于材料对污染的敏感性，具有用于钙钛矿光致发光材料制造的专用设备是必不可少的。此外，在制造过程中（例如涂层之前和之后）测试材料的能力对于确保加工影响的准确结果至关重要，特别是由于未封装器件的寿命短。内部量子效率测量是特别需要的，以确认纳米结构接触层的纳米光子增强效应，确定从封装的效率损失或增益的位置，并确定在任意照明环境中的设备的性能。这些功能在我们大学或附近的任何地方都不可用，并且对于我的团队当前NSERC Discovery资助的研究的进步以及我们在NSERC联盟应用中的未来成功是必要的。该系统将专门用于制造光伏器件，作为我实验室研究的基础-我的学生目前正在研究钙钛矿太阳能电池纳米结构背接触的计算拓扑优化，光伏阴影几何形状的优化算法，以及用于增强器件稳定性的硬涂层。我们迫切需要能够让我的学员进行实验演示的设备，以验证我们的模拟设备设计，从而提高我们工作的影响力，同时为我的学员提供宝贵的实践经验。这最终将大大有利于提高我的学生的职业声望和应用经验，特别是那些来自物理科学代表性不足的群体的学生，并扩大我们招募未来学员的能力。

The proposal herein is to fund a system of instruments for the experimental exploration of novel perovskite photovoltaic devices. The overall goal of the research program supported by this equipment is to develop new coating layers, nanostructured geometries, and optimized device configurations to expand the availability and equity of solar energy. This equipment would represent the beginning of experimental photovoltaics research in my lab, and would allow this focal point of my doctoral and postdoctoral research to be extended to my new experimental program at Western University. This system is primarily composed of a spin coater and slot-die coater to provide an industrially relevant fabrication process of the standard perovskite material along with the required hole and electron transport layers; an environmental chamber for accelerated lifetime testing of the devices; and an internal quantum efficiency measurement system for determining the spectrally resolved efficiency of the devices. Having dedicated equipment for perovskite photovoltaics fabrication is essential due to the sensitivity of the materials to contamination. Furthermore, the ability to test the material during the fabrication process (e.g. before and after coating layers) is critical to ensuring the accurate results on the impact of the processing, especially due to the short lifetimes of unencapsulated devices. Internal quantum efficiency measurements are specifically needed to confirm the nanophotonic enhancement effects of the nanostructured contact layers, determine the location of losses or gains in efficiency from encapsulation, and to determine the performance of devices in arbitrary lighting environments. These capabilities are not available anywhere at our University or the immediate vicinity, and are necessary for the advancement of my team's current NSERC Discovery-funded research, and our future success in NSERC Alliance applications. The system specifically would be used for the fabrication of photovoltaic devices that serve as the foundation for the research in my lab -- my students are currently working on computational topology optimization of nanostructured back contacts for perovskite solar cells, optimization algorithms for the geometry of photovoltaic shades, and hard coating layers for the enhanced stability of devices. Equipment to allow my trainees work to be demonstrated experimentally is urgently needed to provide validation of our simulated device designs, and to thus enhance the impact of our work while provide valuable hands-on experience to my trainees. This would finally be greatly beneficial to enhancing the career prestige and applied experience of my students, particularly those from groups under-represented in the physical sciences, and to expand our ability to recruit a diverse pool of future trainees.