Effect of inert gas background pressure on resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation deposition of two-dimensional hybrid perovskite

Hybrid perovskite materials have emerged as excellent candidates for next-generation optoelectronic applications. Nevertheless, many vapor deposition techniques face challenges like phase segregation, thermal decomposition, and nonstoichiometric film growth. Resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) addresses these challenges by eliminating thermal stability concerns for precursor materials while maintaining stoichiometry and producing high-quality film growth. Despite its advantages, scaling up RIR-MAPLE remains underexplored compared to conventional techniques. A main challenge is to ensure high throughput with precise control over film properties. RIR-MAPLE films are typically grown under an active vacuum (chamber pressure of ∼10−5 Torr). Film deposition under background gas pressure has not been investigated, leaving questions about how an inert gas environment could influence material properties. Thus, understanding film deposition in a reduced vacuum environment with background inert gas, such as nitrogen gas, is crucial to demonstrate the feasibility of higher throughput to achieve industrial scalability. This study examines the effect of nitrogen background pressure on the deposition of two-dimensional hybrid perovskite films, namely, phenethylammonium lead iodide revealing significant improvements in film crystallinity, optical properties, and defect density with increasing background pressure, thereby highlighting the potential for scaling RIR-MAPLE for the synthesis of high-performance hybrid perovskite films.