Optimum silver contact sputtering parameters for efficient perovskite solar cell fabrication

The use of magnetron sputtering for deposition of the metal electrode in perovskite solar cells has been limited because of the damage to the organic hole transport layer by high kinetic energy particles during the sputtering process. In this paper, a systematic investigation into the effect of sputtering power, argon flow rate, sputtering duration, and argon pressure on the performance of the perovskite cells was conducted. The results of this work show that high power conversion efficiency of 18.35% was obtained for solution-processed, air-fabricated perovskite solar cells with Ag contact prepared using magnetron sputtering. The devices also exhibit an excellent short-current density of 22.56 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 1.10 V and a fill factor of 73.7%. The investigation reveals that sputtering power is the most critical factor that needs to be carefully controlled to minimise the damage to the hole transport layer. This study demonstrates that highly efficient perovskite solar cells can be fabricated using magnetron sputtering if the sputtering parameters are optimised.