Automated and Scalable SEM Image Analysis of Perovskite Solar Cell Materials via a Deep Segmentation Framework

Abstract

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is indispensable for characterizing the microstructure of thin films during perovskite solar cell fabrication. Accurate identification and quantification of lead iodide and perovskite phases are critical because residual lead iodide strongly influences crystallization pathways and defect formation, while the morphology of perovskite grains governs carrier transport and device stability. Yet current SEM image analysis is still largely manual, limiting throughput and consistency. Here, we present an automated deep learning-based framework for SEM image segmentation that enables precise and efficient identification of lead iodide, perovskite and defect domains across diverse morphologies. Built upon an improved YOLOv8x architecture, our model named PerovSegNet incorporates two novel modules: (i) Adaptive Shuffle Dilated Convolution Block, which enhances multi-scale and fine-grained feature extraction through group convolutions and channel mixing; and (ii) Separable Adaptive Downsampling module, which jointly preserves fine-scale textures and large-scale structures for more robust boundary recognition. Trained on an augmented dataset of 10,994 SEM images, PerovSegNet achieves a mean Average Precision of 87.25% with 265.4 Giga Floating Point Operations, outperforming the baseline YOLOv8x-seg by 4.08%, while reducing model size and computational load by 24.43% and 25.22%, respectively. Beyond segmentation, the framework provides quantitative grain-level metrics, such as lead iodide/perovskite area and count, which can serve as reliable indicators of crystallization efficiency and microstructural quality. These capabilities establish PerovSegNet as a scalable tool for real-time process monitoring and data-driven optimization of perovskite thin-film fabrication.The source code is available at:https://github.com/wlyyj/PerovSegNet/tree/master.