TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stolterfoht, Martin
A1  - Caprioglio, Pietro
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Marquez, Jose A.
A1  - Nordmann, Joleik
A1  - Zhang, Shanshan
A1  - Rothhardt, Daniel
A1  - Hörmann, Ulrich
A1  - Amir, Yohai
A1  - Redinger, Alex
A1  - Kegelmann, Lukas
A1  - Zu, Fengshuo
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Koch, Norbert
A1  - Kirchartz, Thomas
A1  - Saliba, Michael
A1  - Unold, Thomas
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - The impact of energy alignment and interfacial recombination on the internal and external open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells
JF  - Energy & environmental science
N2  - 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.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ee02020a
SN  - 1754-5692
SN  - 1754-5706
VL  - 12
IS  - 9
SP  - 2778
EP  - 2788
PB  - Royal Society of Chemistry
CY  - Cambridge
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stolterfoht, Martin
A1  - Wolff, Christian Michael
A1  - Marquez, Jose A.
A1  - Zhang, Shanshan
A1  - Hages, Charles J.
A1  - Rothhardt, Daniel
A1  - Albrecht, Steve
A1  - Burn, Paul L.
A1  - Meredith, Paul
A1  - Unold, Thomas
A1  - Neher, Dieter
T1  - Visualization and suppression of interfacial recombination for high-efficiency large-area pin perovskite solar cells
JF  - Nature Energy
N2  - 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%).
KW  - Energy science and technology
KW  - Solar cells
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0219-8
SN  - 2058-7546
VL  - 3
IS  - 10
SP  - 847
EP  - 854
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  -