Large-Scale Compositional and Electronic Inhomogeneities in CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskites and Their Effect on Device Performance

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Qing Sun - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Paul Fassl - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Yana Vaynzof - , Heidelberg University  (Author)

Abstract

Photovoltaic devices based on lead halide perovskite materials are under extensive investigation due to their remarkably high efficiencies. However, it has become evident that the photovoltaic performance of these devices shows wide distributions, even across individual perovskite samples, resulting in the practice of presenting performance histograms, rather than single values. We demonstrate that these variations in performance are related to the large-scale compositional and electronic inhomogeneities of perovskite films, which we characterize using X-ray and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy mapping. These inhomogeneities are observed for three different fabrication methods for the perovskite layers, and while they are unaltered by storage in nitrogen and dry air, long-term exposure to vacuum increases the homogeneity of the surface structure. We demonstrate that perovskite films with a nonuniform surface structure result in broadly varying photovoltaic performance despite seemingly similar bulk properties such as absorption and microstructure.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2410-2416
Number of pages7
JournalACS applied energy materials
Volume1
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jun 2018
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • chemical composition, inhomogeneity, ionization potential, performance distribution, perovskite solar cells, photoemission spectroscopy