PASSIVATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES

1 . A photovoltaic device comprising:

a first contact layer having a first thickness;

a first charge transport layer (CTL) having a second thickness positioned over a surface of the first contact layer;

an absorber layer having a third thickness positioned over a surface of the first CTL;

a second CTL having a fourth thickness positioned over a surface of the absorber layer;

a second contact layer having fifth thickness positioned over a surface of the second CTL;

a barrier layer having a sixth thickness;

an encapsulation layer; and

a first scribe line defined by at least one surface, wherein:

at least a portion of the barrier layer is positioned between the encapsulation layer and the second CTL,

the at least one surface of the scribe line comprises at least a portion of the third thickness, fourth thickness, fifth thickness, and at least a portion of the second thickness, and

the barrier layer is disposed over at least a portion of the at least one surface formed by the first scribe line.

2 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second scribe line defined by at least one surface, wherein:

the at least one surface of the second scribe line comprises at least a portion of the second thickness, third thickness, fourth thickness, and fifth thickness, and

the barrier layer is disposed over at least a portion of the at least one surface of the second scribe line.

3 . The photovoltaic device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one surface of the first scribe line comprises a portion of the first contact layer, first CTL layer, the absorber layer, second CTL layer, and second contact layer.

4 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , wherein the absorber layer comprises ABX3, where A is a first cation, B is a second cation, and X comprises at least one halide.

5 . The photovoltaic device of claim 4 , wherein the second cation comprises at least one of tin or lead.

6 . The photovoltaic device of claim 5 , wherein the first cation comprises at least one of formamidinium (FA), methylammonium (MA), or cesium.

7 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , wherein the barrier layer comprises at least one of a metal oxide, a polymer, a resin, an aryl ammonium halide, an alkyl ammonium halide, or lead sulphate.

8 . The photovoltaic device of claim 7 , wherein the metal oxide comprises at least one of aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, tin oxide, zirconium oxide, or titanium oxide.

9 . The photovoltaic device of claim 7 , wherein the aryl ammonium halide comprises at least one of phenethylammonium iodide (PEAI), 1-(ammonium acetyl)pyrene (PEY), or dodecyl ammonium-chloride (DACI).

10 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , wherein the barrier layer has a thickness between 20 nm and 1500 nm.

11 . The photovoltaic device of claim 10 , wherein the barrier layer has a transmittance of greater than 80% at wavelengths greater than 700 nm as measured through the thickness of the barrier layer.

12 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , further comprising a buffer layer positioned between the absorber layer and the second contact layer, and the buffer layer comprises an oxysalt.

13 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , wherein the second charge transport layer comprises fullerenes.

14 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , wherein the absorber layer comprises at least one of a perovskite, silicon, a III-V alloy, an organic photovoltaic material, a dye-sensitized material, a copper indium gallium selenide alloy, or a cadmium telluride alloy.

15 . The photovoltaic device of claim 1 , wherein the barrier layer comprises a material that is insoluble in water.

16 . A method of fabricating a photovoltaic device stack, the method comprising:

forming a barrier layer on a photovoltaic device layer stack, wherein the device layer stack comprises:

a first contact layer having a first thickness;

a first charge transport layer (CTL) having a second thickness positioned over a surface of the first contact layer;

an absorber layer having a third thickness positioned over a surface of the first CTL;

a second CTL having a fourth thickness positioned over a surface of the absorber layer;

a second contact layer having fifth thickness positioned over a surface of the second CTL; and

a first scribe line defined by at least one surface,

wherein:

the at least one surface of the first scribe line comprises at least a portion of the third thickness, fourth thickness, fifth thickness, and at least a portion of the second thickness,

the barrier layer comprises at least one of a metal oxide, a polymer, a resin, an aryl ammonium halide, an alkyl ammonium halide, or lead sulphate, and

the barrier layer is formed over at least a portion of the at least one surface of the first scribe line.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the device stack further comprises a second scribe line,

the second scribe line is defined by at least one surface,

the at least one surface of the second scribe line comprises at least a portion of the first thickness, the second thickness, the third thickness, the fourth thickness, or the fifth thickness, and

the barrier layer is disposed over at least a portion of the at least one surface of the second scribe line.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the barrier layer comprises the metal oxide, and the metal oxide comprises aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, tin oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, or a combination thereof.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the barrier layer has a thickness between 20 nm and 1500 nm, and the barrier layer has a transmittance of greater than 80% at wavelengths greater than 700 nm as measured through the thickness of the barrier layer.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the barrier layer comprises a material that is insoluble in water.