Prof Henry Snaith FRS

Abstract:

The recent discovery of lead-free halide double perovskites with band gaps in the visible represents an important step forward in the design of environmentally friendly perovskite solar cells. Within this new family of semiconductors, Cs2BiAgCl6 and Cs2BiAgBr6 are stable compounds crystallizing in the elpasolite structure. Following the recent computational discovery and experimental synthesis of these compounds, a detailed investigation of their electronic properties is warranted in order to establish their potential as optoelectronic materials. In this work, we perform many-body perturbation theory calculations and obtain high accuracy band gaps for both compounds. In addition, we report on the synthesis of Cs2BiAgBr6 single crystals, which are stable in ambient conditions. From our complementary theoretical and experimental analysis, we are able to assign the indirect character of the band gaps and obtain both experimental and theoretical band gaps of these novel semiconductors that are in close agreement.

Abstract:

Organic-inorganic perovskites such as CH3NH3PbI3 are promising materials for a variety of optoelectronic applications, with certified power conversion efficiencies in solar cells already exceeding 21%. Nevertheless, state-of-the-art films still contain performance-limiting non-radiative recombination sites and exhibit a range of complex dynamic phenomena under illumination that remain poorly understood. Here we use a unique combination of confocal photoluminescence (PL) microscopy and chemical imaging to correlate the local changes in photophysics with composition in CH3NH3PbI3 films under illumination. We demonstrate that the photo-induced 'brightening' of the perovskite PL can be attributed to an order-of-magnitude reduction in trap state density. By imaging the same regions with time-of-flight secondary-ion-mass spectrometry, we correlate this photobrightening with a net migration of iodine. Our work provides visual evidence for photo-induced halide migration in triiodide perovskites and reveals the complex interplay between charge carrier populations, electronic traps and mobile halides that collectively impact optoelectronic performance.