TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Shanshan A1 - Hosseini, Seyed Mehrdad A1 - Gunder, Rene A1 - Petsiuk, Andrei A1 - Caprioglio, Pietro A1 - Wolff, Christian Michael A1 - Shoaee, Safa A1 - Meredith, Paul A1 - Schorr, Susan A1 - Unold, Thomas A1 - Burn, Paul L. A1 - Neher, Dieter A1 - Stolterfoht, Martin T1 - The Role of Bulk and Interface Recombination in High-Efficiency Low-Dimensional Perovskite Solar Cells JF - Advanced materials N2 - 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite (RPP) solar cells have excellent environmental stability. However, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of RPP cells remains inferior to 3D perovskite-based cells. Herein, 2D (CH3(CH2)(3)NH3)(2)(CH3NH3)(n-1)PbnI3n+1 perovskite cells with different numbers of [PbI6](4-) sheets (n = 2-4) are analyzed. Photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) measurements show that nonradiative open-circuit voltage (V-OC) losses outweigh radiative losses in materials with n > 2. The n = 3 and n = 4 films exhibit a higher PLQY than the standard 3D methylammonium lead iodide perovskite although this is accompanied by increased interfacial recombination at the top perovskite/C-60 interface. This tradeoff results in a similar PLQY in all devices, including the n = 2 system where the perovskite bulk dominates the recombination properties of the cell. In most cases the quasi-Fermi level splitting matches the device V-OC within 20 meV, which indicates minimal recombination losses at the metal contacts. The results show that poor charge transport rather than exciton dissociation is the primary reason for the reduction in fill factor of the RPP devices. Optimized n = 4 RPP solar cells had PCEs of 13% with significant potential for further improvements. KW - 2D perovskites KW - interface recombination KW - perovskite solar cells KW - photoluminescence KW - V-OC loss Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201901090 SN - 0935-9648 SN - 1521-4095 VL - 31 IS - 30 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - 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 -