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Understanding the physical properties of hybrid perovskites for photovoltaic applications

Nature Reviews Materials volume 2, Article number: 17042 (2017) Cite this article

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Abstract

New photovoltaic materials have been searched for in the past decades for clean and renewable solar energy conversion with an objective of reducing the levelized cost of electricity (that is, the unit price of electricity over the course of the device lifetime). An emerging family of semiconductor materials — organic–inorganic halide perovskites (OIHPs) — are the focus of the photovoltaic research community owing to their use of low cost, nature-abundant raw materials, low-temperature and scalable solution fabrication processes, and, in particular, the very high power conversion efficiencies that have been achieved within the short time of their development. In this Review, we summarize and critically assess the most recent advances in understanding the physical properties of both 3D and low-dimensional OIHPs that favour a small open-circuit voltage deficit and high power conversion efficiency. Several prominent topics in this field on the unique properties of OIHPs are surveyed, including defect physics, ferroelectricity, exciton dissociation processes, carrier recombination lifetime and photon recycling. The impact of ion migration on solar cell efficiency and stability are also critically analysed. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges in the commercialization of OIHP photovoltaics.

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Figure 1: Exciton or free charge generation under illumination in OIHPs?
Figure 2: Electromechanical properties of OIHPs.
Figure 3: Photon recycling effect in OIHPs?
Figure 4: Defect tolerance of OIHPs.
Figure 5: Surface charge recombinations in OIHPs.
Figure 6: Charge trap densities and surface passivation of OIHPs.
Figure 7: Ion migration in OIHPs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) (Grant No. N00014-15-1-2713), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (Grant No. A9550-16-1-0299) and National Science Foundation under awards of OIA-1538893, ECCS-1252623 and DMR-1505535. Y. Yuan also thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51673218) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, 68588-0656, Nebraska, USA

    Jinsong Huang, Yongbo Yuan & Yuchuan Shao

  2. Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 27599, North Carolina, USA

    Jinsong Huang

  3. Hunan Key Laboratory of Super Microstructure and Ultrafast Process, School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, P. R. China

    Yongbo Yuan

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, University of Toledo, Toledo, 43606, Ohio, USA

    Yanfa Yan

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Correspondence to Jinsong Huang.

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Huang, J., Yuan, Y., Shao, Y. et al. Understanding the physical properties of hybrid perovskites for photovoltaic applications. Nat Rev Mater 2, 17042 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2017.42

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