CsCl seed layer homogenizes co-evaporated perovskite growth for high-efficiency fully textured perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells

Viktor Škorjanc; Stefanie Severin; Alexander Veber; Mauricio J. Prieto; Liviu C. Tănase; Aleksandra Miaskiewicz; Sebastian Weitz; Jing-Wen Hsueh; Mohamad-Assaad Mawass; Lucas de Souza Caldas; Suresh Manyarasu; Philippe Holzhey; Erik Wutke; Stepan Demchyshyn; Matthew R. Leyden; Angelika Harter; Roberto Felix Duarte; Jona Kurpiers; Philipp Wagner; Bernd Stannovski; Ljiljana Puskar; Roland Mainz; Daniel Abou-Ras; Thomas Schmidt; Lars Korte; Marcel Roß; Steve Albrecht

arXiv · 2511.23004

CsCl seed layer homogenizes co-evaporated perovskite growth for high-efficiency fully textured perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells

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Abstract

Monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells experienced a significant increase in efficiency, making them viable for industrial applications. Among the various scalable and industry-compatible metal halide perovskite deposition techniques, co-evaporation stands out as particularly well-suited for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells due to its ability to conformally cover textured silicon bottom cells. Solution-processed [2-(3,6-Dimethoxy-9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid (MeO-2PACz) is commonly used as a hole-transporting material for co-evaporated metal halide perovskites. However, we show that it covers the textured surface of silicon bottom cells unevenly, impacting the film growth and leading to the formation of residual PbI2 at the buried interface. The present study reveals via X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM) and infrared scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (IR s-SNOM) that a CsCl seed layer fosters organic precursor incorporation across the MeO-2PACz/perovskite interface, even in the areas with a thin MeO-2PACz layer, thereby preventing the formation of interfacial PbI2 and leading to larger apparent grains. The improvement of the metal halide perovskite film quality on the MeO-2PACz/perovskite interface and the bulk perovskite film led to 30.3% (29.7% certified) efficient perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell. The present work highlights the importance of a seed layer for a robust growth of co-evaporated metal halide perovskite and represents an important milestone for the transfer of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells from laboratory to industry.

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Viktor Škorjanc, Stefanie Severin, Alexander Veber, Mauricio J. Prieto, Liviu C. Tănase, Aleksandra Miaskiewicz, Sebastian Weitz, Jing-Wen Hsueh, Mohamad-Assaad Mawass, Lucas de Souza Caldas, Suresh Manyarasu, Philippe Holzhey, Erik Wutke, Stepan Demchyshyn, Matthew R. Leyden, Angelika Harter, Roberto Felix Duarte, Jona Kurpiers, Philipp Wagner, Bernd Stannovski, Ljiljana Puskar, Roland Mainz, Daniel Abou-Ras, Thomas Schmidt, Lars Korte, Marcel Roß, Steve Albrecht. 2025-11-28. CsCl seed layer homogenizes co-evaporated perovskite growth for high-efficiency fully textured perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.23004

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