System for fabrication and characterisation of novel perovskite solar cells

这里的建议是资助一套仪器系统，用于新型钙钛矿型光伏器件的实验探索。该设备支持的研究计划的总体目标是开发新的涂层、纳米结构几何结构和优化的设备配置，以扩大太阳能的可用性和公平性。这台设备将代表着我实验室实验光伏研究的开始，并将使我的博士和博士后研究重点扩展到我在西部大学的新实验项目。该系统主要由旋涂机和槽芯镀膜机组成，以提供与工业相关的标准钙钛矿材料的制造工艺以及所需的空穴和电子传输层；用于加速器件寿命测试的环境室；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。由于钙钛矿型光伏材料对污染的敏感性，拥有专门的设备制造钙钛矿光伏是必不可少的。此外，在制造过程中(例如，涂层前后)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使用寿命较短。特别需要内部量子效率测量来确认纳米结构接触层的纳米光子增强效应，确定封装效率损失或增加的位置，以及确定器件在任意照明环境中的性能。这些能力在我们大学或附近的任何地方都是不可用的，对于我的团队目前由NSERC Discovery资助的研究的推进以及我们未来在NSERC联盟应用方面的成功是必要的。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型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。迫切需要使我的受训人员能够在实验中演示工作的设备，以验证我们的模拟设备设计，从而增强我们工作的影响，同时为我的受训人员提供宝贵的动手体验。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，并扩大我们招募不同未来受训人员的能力。

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.