LayTec’s new InspiRe in-situ tool used for monitoring perovskite formation

Germany-based in-situ metrology system maker LayTec has announced that its new InspiRe system applies high-speed in-situ reflectance measurements for monitoring perovskite thin-film formations during spin-coating and subsequent annealing.

In collaboration with professor Norbert Nickel's group at HZB, LayTec designed the InspiRe in-situ metrology system, which was applied to monitor both spin-coating and annealing. Gathering data at a time resolution on the millisecond scale allows resolving of the kinetics and phase formations during film formation.

While spin-coating, the absorption behavior and the thinning of precursor solution is monitored. The absorption edge (i.e. band gap) of the deposited perovskite film is derived directly during annealing. Spectral changes during annealing indicate over-annealing after the desired bandgap has been achieved.

This methodology allows the systematic study of film formation during two crucial process steps for identifying optimization routes and for implementing a rigid quality control scheme for upscaling and industrialization.