Prof Michael Johnston

Abstract:

The tunable bandgap of metal-halide perovskites has opened up the possibility of tandem solar cells with over 30% efficiency. Iodide-Bromide (I-Br) mixed-halide perovskites are crucial to achieve the optimum bandgap for such tandems. However, when the Br content is increased to widen the bandgap, cells fail to deliver the expected increase in open-circuit voltage (VOC). This loss in VOC has been attributed to photo-induced halide segregation. Here, we combine Fourier Transform Photocurrent Spectroscopy (FTPS) with detailed balance calculations to quantify the voltage loss expected from the halide segregation, providing a means to quantify the VOC losses arising from the formation of low bandgap iodide-rich phases during halide segregation. Our results indicate that, contrary to popular belief, halide segregation is not the dominant VOC loss mechanism in Br-rich wide bandgap cells. Rather, the loss is dominated by the relatively low initial radiative efficiency of the cells, which arises from both imperfections within the absorber layer, and at the perovskite/charge extraction layer heterojunctions. We thus identify that focussing on maximising the initial radiative efficiency of the mixed-halide films and devices is more important than attempting to suppress halide segeregation. Our results suggest that a VOC of up to 1.33 V is within reach for a 1.77 eV bandgap perovskite, even if halide segregation cannot be supressed

Abstract:

Metal halide perovskite semiconductors have the potential to enable low-cost, flexible and efficient solar cells for a wide range of applications. Physical vapour deposition by co-evaporation of precursors is a method which results in very smooth and pin-hole-free perovskite thin films and allows excellent control over film thickness and composition. However, for a deposition method to become industrially scalable, reproducible process control and high device yields are essential. Unfortunately, to date the control and reproducibility of evaporating organic precursors such as methylammonium iodide (MAI) has proved extremely challenging. We show that the established method of controlling the evaporation-rate of MAI with quartz micro balances (QMBs) is critically sensitive to the concentration of the impurities MAH2PO3 and MAH2PO2 that are usually present in MAI after synthesis. Therefore, controlling the deposition rate of MAI with QMBs is unreliable since the concentration of such impurities typically varies from MAI batch-to-batch and even during the course of a deposition. However once reliable control of MAI deposition is achieved, we find that the presence of precursor impurities during perovskite deposition does not degrade solar cell performance. Our results indicate that as long as precursor deposition rates are well controlled, physical vapour deposition will allow high solar cell device yields even if the purity of precursors change from run to run.

Abstract:

Vapour deposition of metal halide perovskite by co-evaporation of precursors has the potential to achieve large-area high-efficiency solar cells on an industrial scale, yet little is known about the growth of metal halide perovskites by this method at the current time. Here, we report the fabrication of MAPbI3 films with average thicknesses from 2 – 320 nm by co-evaporation. We analyze the film properties using X-ray diffraction, optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) to provide insights into the nucleation and growth of MAPbI3 films on quartz substrates. We find that the perovskite initially forms crystallite islands of around 8 nm in height, which may be the cause of the persistent small grain sizes reported for evaporated metal halide perovskites that hinder device efficiency and stability. As more material is added, islands coalesce until full coverage of the substrate is reached at around 10 nm average thickness. We also find that quantum confinement induces substantial shifts to the PL wavelength when the average thickness is below 40 nm, offering dual-source vapour deposition as an alternative method of fabricating nanoscale structures for LEDs and other devices.