The file I attatched;schematic of perovskite solar cell, I'm wondering why the blue circled part(FTO) should be etched. Metal electrode structure looks like the second picture.
Is there a big difference between etched and not etched?
The etching of the circled part is to prevent a short circuit. The contacts must be formed such that the edge of the metal is away from the edge of the other layers. Instead of etching the FTO you can also protect the edges by using adhesive tape that can be lift-off after depositing the Ag.