title: Solid state perovskite solar modules by vacuum-vapor assisted sequential deposition on Nd:YVO₄ laser patterned rutile TiO₂ nanorods.
abstract: The past few years have witnessed remarkable progress in solution-processed methylammonium lead halide (CH3NH3PbX3, X = halide) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with reported photoconversion efficiency (η) exceeding 20% in laboratory-scale devices and reaching up to 13% in their large area perovskite solar modules (PSMs). These devices mostly employ mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) as an electron transport layer (ETL) which provides a scaffold on which the perovskite semiconductor can grow. However, limitations exist which are due to trap-limited electron transport and non-complete pore filling. Herein, we have employed TiO2 nanorods (NRs), a material offering a two-fold higher electronic mobility and higher pore-filing compared to their particle analogues, as an ETL. A crucial issue in NRs' patterning over substrates is resolved by using precise Nd:YVO4 laser ablation, and a champion device with η ∼ 8.1% is reported via a simple and low cost vacuum-vapor assisted sequential processing (V-VASP) of a CH3NH3PbI3 film. Our experiments showed a successful demonstration of NRs-based PSMs via the V-VASP technique which can be applied to fabricate large area modules with a pin-hole free, smooth and dense perovskite layer which is required to build high efficiency devices.
authors.affiliation: Nanostructured Renewable Energy Materials Laboratory, Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology (FIST), Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Kuantan, Malaysia. C.H.O.S.E. (Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy), Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', via del Politecnico 1, Rome, 00133 Italy.
authors.forename: Azhar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fakharuddin
authors.forename: Alessandro L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Palma
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Giacomo
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Casaluci
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matteocci
authors.forename: Qamar
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wali
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rauf
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Carlo
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Rajan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jose