With an unprecedented rise in solar cell efficiencies and ease of fabrication, hybrid lead halide perovskites have gained worldwide popularity. However, these materials still lack of long-term thermal and environmental stability. To tackle this, halide perovskites with increasingly complex compositions (containing more than 4 distinct components) and structural motifs have been widely proposed. However, controlled growth of these multi-compound hybrid materials in the thin film form remains a challenge. The CREATE research program tackles directly the scientific and technical challenges of the controlled growth of hybrid organic-inorganic materials by a fully versatile in-vacuum thin film deposition process. We are developing a pulsed dual laser deposition (PDLD) method that will allow the controlled, in-vacuum deposition of a large range of both organic and inorganic materials, and their mixture in any pre-determined ratio. To allow the controlled, vacuum-based deposition of a full breadth of hybrid organic-inorganic thin films, the PDLD method will use two independently tuned laser sources for both, the organic (IR laser) and inorganic (UV laser) deposition, all in one single vacuum system.
The overall goal of CREATE and the PDLD method is to achieve maximum versatility for hybrid materials screening and discovery, and maximum growth control to tailor film properties and study the role each component has in the overall optoelectronic properties of the films. This will enable new and optimised materials for solar cells and novel optoelectronic devices.
