Within the research field of single- and multi-junction solar cells the metal halide perovskites are becoming increasingly appealing for commercialization, primarily due to their record power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). These PCE records are a result of several attractive qualities inherent to perovskites. One of these qualities is its compositional flexibility. A large variety of hybrid compositions, including organic and inorganic precursors and dopants, have led to a range of different band gap semiconductors with increased optoelectronic performance and stability. These improved properties come accompanied by an increased production complexity due to, among other things, the different volatility and solubility of its components.

The most explored production method, with the largest number of publications and the current PCE record, is solution-based deposition. Solution-based deposition techniques allow relativity easy inclusion of compatible precursors without the use of specialized or expensive equipment.

Another method, vapor-phase deposition, in particular co-sublimation of perovskite precursors, has also been successfully shown to lead to high quality perovskite films and solar cells. These perovskite films have the added benefit of the absence of trace amounts of solvents or the necessity of all precursors to be soluble in the same solvent. Additionally, this method can be more seamlessly transferred into already established production lines in the semiconductor industry. However, the number of precursors that can controllably and reproducibly be co-sublimed is limited. Moreover, relatively slow sublimation rates are required to maintain control over the perovskite stoichiometry, resulting in deposition times in the order of hours.

In this presentation a novel gas flow assisted flash evaporation (GFAFE) method will be introduced. This method allows for a high degree of freedom in precursors as the system flash evaporates all tested materials without losing its stoichiometry. The most important novelty of this system is its unprecedented deposition speed of over 1.0 µm/min. This can be used for complex, complete perovskite deposition from a single source, or in a sequential manner, where it tackles the specific need for high deposition speed of organic components as formulated from industry.

This system has initially been used for the production of perovskite solar cells which has led to proof-of-concept devices made with both single source and sequentially deposited perovskites. The performance of the solar cells is enhanced by the use of dopants and additives from the singular powder source.

The system uses a 10x10 cm² sample holder and is designed with upscaling for wafer sized devices in mind by using a showerhead design to homogeneously expand the gas flow. The system uses a powder reservoir that holds up to 5 grams of powder, which has been found to be sufficient for over 10 production batches, making the total production throughput very high, especially for a lab-scale setup. The combination of the qualities above enables us to make high quality, complex perovskites, faster than with conventional methods while decreasing the complexity of perovskite deposition procedure.