Flash-evaporation printing methodology for perovskite thin films

Printing solutions have attracted wide attention from various research fields, but thin films made by printing technologies still cannot match the quality of the films made by conventional thin-film deposition methods. In this study, a flash-evaporation printing ( FEP) technology, which employed a freestanding carbon nanotube ( CNT) flash evaporator, was developed to address this issue and to achieve a compact physical vapor deposition geometry. The target material precoated on the CNT flash evaporator was printed onto a substrate by gas-phase transportation. The FEP methodology presented a printable solution for hybrid perovskite thin films. The as-fabricated photovoltaic devices showed power conversion efficiencies of similar to 10.3%, and the thin films were also utilized as potential photodetectors. In addition, this technology can also be used to print patterns and a wide variety of materials on large panels. The environmentally friendly and cost-effective FEP technology will be of significant benefit to printed electronics, organic electronics and future flexible electronics.