@article{StolterfohtCaprioglioWolffetal.2019,
  author    = {Stolterfoht, Martin and Caprioglio, Pietro and Wolff, Christian Michael and Marquez, Jose A. and Nordmann, Joleik and Zhang, Shanshan and Rothhardt, Daniel and H{\"o}rmann, Ulrich and Amir, Yohai and Redinger, Alex and Kegelmann, Lukas and Zu, Fengshuo and Albrecht, Steve and Koch, Norbert and Kirchartz, Thomas and Saliba, Michael and Unold, Thomas and Neher, Dieter},
  title     = {The impact of energy alignment and interfacial recombination on the internal and external open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells},
  series = {Energy \& environmental science},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Energy \& environmental science},
  number    = {9},
  publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {1754-5692},
  doi       = {10.1039/c9ee02020a},
  pages     = {2778 -- 2788},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Charge transport layers (CTLs) are key components of diffusion controlled perovskite solar cells, however, they can induce additional non-radiative recombination pathways which limit the open circuit voltage (V-OC) of the cell. In order to realize the full thermodynamic potential of the perovskite absorber, both the electron and hole transport layer (ETL/HTL) need to be as selective as possible. By measuring the photoluminescence yield of perovskite/CTL heterojunctions, we quantify the non-radiative interfacial recombination currents in pin- and nip-type cells including high efficiency devices (21.4\%). Our study comprises a wide range of commonly used CTLs, including various hole-transporting polymers, spiro-OMeTAD, metal oxides and fullerenes. We find that all studied CTLs limit the V-OC by inducing an additional non-radiative recombination current that is in most cases substantially larger than the loss in the neat perovskite and that the least-selective interface sets the upper limit for the V-OC of the device. Importantly, the V-OC equals the internal quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS) in the absorber layer only in high efficiency cells, while in poor performing devices, the V-OC is substantially lower than the QFLS. Using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and differential charging capacitance experiments we show that this is due to an energy level mis-alignment at the p-interface. The findings are corroborated by rigorous device simulations which outline important considerations to maximize the V-OC. This work highlights that the challenge to suppress non-radiative recombination losses in perovskite cells on their way to the radiative limit lies in proper energy level alignment and in suppression of defect recombination at the interfaces.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StolterfohtWolffMarquezetal.2018,
  author    = {Stolterfoht, Martin and Wolff, Christian Michael and Marquez, Jose A. and Zhang, Shanshan and Hages, Charles J. and Rothhardt, Daniel and Albrecht, Steve and Burn, Paul L. and Meredith, Paul and Unold, Thomas and Neher, Dieter},
  title     = {Visualization and suppression of interfacial recombination for high-efficiency large-area pin perovskite solar cells},
  series = {Nature Energy},
  volume    = {3},
  journal   = {Nature Energy},
  number    = {10},
  publisher = {Nature Publ. Group},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {2058-7546},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41560-018-0219-8},
  pages     = {847 -- 854},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {The performance of perovskite solar cells is predominantly limited by non-radiative recombination, either through trap-assisted recombination in the absorber layer or via minority carrier recombination at the perovskite/transport layer interfaces. Here, we use transient and absolute photoluminescence imaging to visualize all non-radiative recombination pathways in planar pintype perovskite solar cells with undoped organic charge transport layers. We find significant quasi-Fermi-level splitting losses (135 meV) in the perovskite bulk, whereas interfacial recombination results in an additional free energy loss of 80 meV at each individual interface, which limits the open-circuit voltage (V-oc) of the complete cell to similar to 1.12 V. Inserting ultrathin interlayers between the perovskite and transport layers leads to a substantial reduction of these interfacial losses at both the p and n contacts. Using this knowledge and approach, we demonstrate reproducible dopant-free 1 cm(2) perovskite solar cells surpassing 20\% efficiency (19.83\% certified) with stabilized power output, a high V-oc (1.17 V) and record fill factor (>81\%).},
  language  = {en}
}