@article {3206249,
	title = {
	Physical Vapor Deposition with Rapid Photonic Annealing: Enhanced Stability in Metal Oxide Photoelectrodes

},
	journal = {The Journal of Physical Chemistry C},
	year = {2025},
	abstract = {Photoelectrochemical cells face fundamental performance-stability trade-offs that conventional synthesis approaches cannot overcome. This perspective demonstrates how physical vapor deposition delivers orders of magnitude higher energies (10<sup>3</sup>{\textendash}10<sup>5</sup>\&nbsp;meV/atom) compared to chemical-based methods (\~{}25{\textendash}60 meV/atom), enabling precise stoichiometric and structural control in multinary metal-oxide photoelectrodes. However, optimal crystallization requires high-temperature postprocessing exceeding substrate{\textquoteright}s limits. Rapid-photonic-annealing achieves heating-rates of 10<sup>2</sup>{\textendash}10<sup>7</sup>\&nbsp;versus \~{}0.01{\textendash}1 K/s for conventional conduction/convection heating, creating thermal-nonequilibrium conditions that enable high-temperature crystallization while preserving substrate integrity with dramatically reduced energy consumption and enhanced processing versatility. This synergistic combination of energetic deposition with ultrafast annealing produces superior films with reduced grain-boundary density, minimized defects, and enhanced crystallinity. Case-studies of metal-oxides demonstrate enhanced photoelectrochemical stability and performance compared to conventional processing routes. Proof-of-concept SnWO<sub>4</sub>\&nbsp;validation achieves phase-pure crystallization within several milliseconds-six-orders-of-magnitude faster than furnace annealing. This framework represents a paradigm-shift, simultaneously addressing efficiency, stability, and scalability requirements for practical photoelectrochemical systems.},
	url = {https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5c04338},
	author = {Ronen Gottesman}
}
