Low-temperature influence on the properties and efficiency of thin-film perovskite solar cells fabricated by the PVco-D technique

The study discussed in this publication aimed to develop a perovskite solar cell adapted to operating conditions at reduced temperature and pressure and less than 1 μm thick. The physical vapor co-deposition technique was proposed and successfully used to create a solar cell structure with a thin layer of hybrid perovskite as an energy-collecting material. A comprehensive analysis of methylammonium lead iodide behavior in a wide temperature range from 10 K to 320 K was carried out to implement this project. The initial phase included assessing the degradation of the perovskite material layer after cooling to the temperature of liquid helium and then re-heating it to room temperature. Then, using spectroscopic techniques, the characteristics of the layers' optical and electrical properties were determined. The obtained results allowed the design of the complete structure of a thin-film perovskite cell, which was made using only the vacuum sublimation process. Simulations using the SCAPS-1D program and experimental results showed high agreement and allowed for obtaining an efficiency of approximately 18.5 % in the interested temperature range. Perovskite solar cell stability tests over six months confirmed the positive impact of the proposed technique for depositing the complete cell structure on its temporal stability. The research results are optimistic for the applications of perovskite cells in space.