Prof Henry Snaith FRS

Abstract:

Lead halide perovskites are materials with excellent optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties. However, some hurdles remain prior to commercialization of these materials, such as chemical stability, phase stability, sensitivity to moisture, and potential issues due to the toxicity of lead. Here, we report a new type of lead-free perovskite related compound, Cs2PdBr6. This compound is solution processable, exhibits long-lived photoluminescence, and an optical band gap of 1.6 eV. Density functional theory calculations indicate that this compound has dispersive electronic bands, with electron and hole effective masses of 0.53 and 0.85 me, respectively. In addition, Cs2PdBr6 is resistant to water, in contrast to lead-halide perovskites, indicating excellent prospects for long-term stability. These combined properties demonstrate that Cs2PdBr6 is a promising novel compound for optoelectronic applications.

Abstract:

We have accurately determined the exciton binding energy and reduced mass of single crystals of methylammonium lead triiodide using magneto-reflectivity at very high magnetic fields. The single crystal has excellent optical properties with a narrow line width of ∼3 meV for the excitonic transitions and a 2s transition that is clearly visible even at zero magnetic field. The exciton binding energy of 16 ± 2 meV in the low-temperature orthorhombic phase is almost identical to the value found in polycrystalline samples, crucially ruling out any possibility that the exciton binding energy depends on the grain size. In the room-temperature tetragonal phase, an upper limit for the exciton binding energy of 12 ± 4 meV is estimated from the evolution of 1s-2s splitting at high magnetic field.

Abstract:

Metal halide perovskite thin films can be crystallized via a broad range of solution-based routes. However, the quality of the final films is strongly dependent upon small changes in solution composition and processing parameters. Here, this study demonstrates that a fractional substitution of PbCl2 with PbI2 in the 3CH3 NH3 I:PbCl2 mixed-halide starting solution has a profound influence upon the ensuing thin-film crystallization. The presence of PbI2 in the precursor induces a uniform distribution of regular quadrilateral-shaped CH3 NH3 PbI3 perovskite crystals in as-cast films, which subsequently grow to form pinhole-free perovskite films with highly crystalline domains. With this new formulation of 3CH3 NH3 I:0.98PbCl2 :0.02PbI2 , this study achieves a 19.1% current-voltage measured power conversion efficiency and a 17.2% stabilized power output in regular planar heterojunction solar cells.