Enabling Long Term, Shelf-Stable Perovskite Solar Cells: Alumina Barriers to Protect Perovskite Devices from Moisture and Oxygen: Article No. e70834

Current encapsulation architectures for thin-film metal halide perovskite do not adequately eliminate all ambient stressors. Here, we develop low transmission rate barrier layers using atomic layer deposited (ALD) aluminum oxide grown directly on the completed photovoltaic (PV) device stack to provide an additional seal, prior to full packaging. We investigate the effect of deposition temperature and oxidant chemistries on the barrier growth for protection of perovskite photovoltaic devices. We characterize the layers individually, then integrate into devices to detail the tradeoff between protection and deposition compatibility. To enhance compatibility and impermeability, we present an approach using water as the aluminum oxidant during nucleation and switching from water to ozone for the remainder of the growth. At 50 nm, the barrier results in a water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of 4.5.10-4 g/m2/day, and 1,000-hour device stability under 45 degrees C with 85% relative humidity without further packaging. This barrier provides sufficient protection to enable minimal degradation of the perovskite solar cells while completely submerged in water for 140 minutes. Additionally, we characterize the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) to be 0.49 cm3/m2/day at 23 degrees C and 0% relative humidity, which is 1.5 orders of magnitude improvement over the OTR of the current encapsulation.