Control of electronic properties of metal halide perovskites through vacuum co-deposition

金属卤化物钙钛矿太阳能电池已成为下一代光伏发电的重要半导体器件。这项光伏技术目前正接近商业化，因此开发可工业化应用的高通量薄膜沉积技术至关重要。真空沉积是实现这一目标的最佳候选者，然而，由于缺乏这一领域的研究重点，以及优化大量生长控制参数的挑战，迄今为止还缺乏基于溶液的技术。本EPSRC PV-CDT专业将重点研究通过真空共沉积控制和优化太阳能电池中应用的多晶金属卤化物膜的生长方法。特别是，将开发工艺来控制薄膜的形貌(包括晶体大小和取向)，并优化一系列卤化铅钙钛矿薄膜的电子性能。该项目将涉及了解真空沉积金属卤化物钙钛矿薄膜的形成，开发控制生长的设备和方法，并执行广泛的分析方法来表征薄膜(例如X射线衍射、光致发光光谱、电子显微镜、透射/反射光学光谱)和用薄膜制造的太阳能电池设备的性能(例如J-V和EQE测量)。来自设备和薄膜特性的反馈将是增长优化周期不可或缺的一部分。拟议的研究位于EPSRC的物理科学、能源与制造未来、能源应用材料和太阳能技术领域以及EPSRC的投资组合中，目标是确定的物理学重大挑战(功能材料的纳米级设计)。

Metal halide perovskite solar cells have emerged as promising semiconductor devices for next generation photovoltaics. This photovoltaic technology is currently approaching commercialisation and so it is critical to develop high-throughput thin-film deposition techniques that can be applied on an industrial scale. Vacuum deposition is a prime candidate to achieve this, however has to date lacked behind solution-based technologies, owing to a lack of research focus in this area, and the challenges of optimising a large collection of growth-control parameters. This EPSRC PV-CDT studentship will focus on methods to control and optimise the growth of polycrystalline metal halide films via vacuum co-deposition for application in solar cells. In particular, processes will be developed to control the morphology of the films (including crystal size and orientation) and optimise the electronic properties of a range of lead-halide perovskite films. The project will involve understanding the formation of vacuum-deposited metal halide perovskite films, developing apparatus and methods to control growth and performing a wide range of analytic methods to characterise the films (e.g. X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, electron microscopy, transmission/reflection optical spectroscopy) and the properties of solar cell devices fabricated from the films (e.g. J-V and EQE measurements). Feedback from device and film characterisation will be integral to the growth optimisation cycle. The proposed research sits in the EPSRC Themes of Physical Sciences, Energy & Manufacturing the Future; and the Areas of Materials for Energy Applications, and Solar Technology and within the EPSRC's portfolio, targeting identified Grand Challenges in Physics (Nanoscale Design of Functional Materials).