Perovskite Processing – From Lab to Production
Perovskite Development Solutions
The LPKF Application Center is more than a testing facility. Located in Garbsen, Germany, it serves as a specialized development center where our expert team creates optimized process solutions tailored to each customer's specific requirements. The focus extends beyond pure technology to encompass economic viability and scalability from the outset.
The Path from Sample to Scale
The LPKF Application Center follows a structured progression designed to minimize risk and accelerate time-to-production. We offer various services that guide customers from initial concept to production-ready process. Process studies, systematically optimize laser parameters for specific perovskite stack architectures, testing variables like wavelength, pulse duration, energy density, and scan speed to identify robust process windows. First article inspections validate quality from the very first sample, using microscopic analysis, electrical characterization, and edge quality assessment to establish baselines for optimization. Feasibility studies clarify whether laser structuring suits particular architectures. Finally, solution finding and process optimization deliver not laboratory experiments but production-ready processes engineered for reproducibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency.
The process development at the LPKF Application Center is conducted using the research-oriented Presto system. The compatibility between Presto and the production-oriented Allegro system enables modification-free transfer of validated process parameters, eliminating the systematic uncertainties associated with scaling from laboratory to production scale. Both Presto and Allegro employ identical laser source technologies, comparable optics, and the same software platform. This eliminates scale-up risk entirely. No lengthy re-qualification campaigns. No unexpected process failures during production ramp. Just proven processes moved from development to manufacturing.
From Research Bench to Production Floor: Presto and Allegro
LPKF addresses the complete development and manufacturing pathway through two complementary laser scribing platforms.
The LPKF Presto serves as the research and development workhorse, providing maximum flexibility for process exploration. Researchers can select from multiple laser wavelengths spanning ultraviolet to infrared, adjust pulse durations from nanoseconds to femtoseconds, and modify spot sizes through interchangeable optics. The intuitive software interface enables rapid job changes and incorporates automatic calibration and alignment functions. This flexibility makes Presto ideal for universities, corporate research departments, and R&D production where process parameters require frequent adjustment and new material variants need systematic evaluation.
The LPKF Allegro represents the production platform, engineered specifically for industrial manufacturing with highest precision and speed. Automated material handling systems minimize manual intervention. Inline quality control monitors process consistency in real time. The compact high-end processing head employs multiple parallel laser beams with dynamic focusing, enabling complete P1-P2-P3 structuring. Granite-based precision mechanics ensure absolute stability, even at processing speeds reaching 4 meters per second with accelerations of 2.5 G.
LPKF offers the Allegro in two configurations addressing different market needs:
The Allegro High Production variant maximizes throughput for high-volume Gigawatt-manufacturing. The recently introduced Allegro Essential provides a cost-optimized alternative positioned specifically for reduced capital investment – With the same precision as the Allegro High Production.
Two Decades of Experience Applied to Tomorrow's Technology
While many equipment suppliers are only now beginning to explore perovskite processing, LPKF brings a decisive advantage: 20 years of intensive experience with the photovoltaic industry's most sensitive thin-film materials. What the company learned processing CdTe, CIGS, and OPV now forms the foundation for perovskite expertise.
The numbers underscore this experience. More than 250 LPKF Allegros operate worldwide in industrial production environments, many running 24/7 with system availability exceeding 98%.
For LPKF, Perovskites represent not an entirely new challenge but rather the next material in a long line of successfully industrialized thin-film technologies.