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Engineering the buried interface in perovskite solar cells via lattice-matched electron transport layer

Nature Photonics volume 17, pages 856–864 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Modifying the exposed upper surface of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has greatly contributed to improving their photovoltaic performance. The equally important buried interface (that is, the hidden bottom of perovskite film and the beginning of perovskite film crystallization) is much less studied due to great difficulties in tailoring it. Here we expose the large-area buried interface non-destructively for direct investigation. We find that the disordered beginning of the perovskite film growth deteriorates the buried interface. To address this issue, instead of using a passivator, we synthesize a transparent and conductive oxide perovskite (SrSnO3) to act as the electron transport layer. The high lattice matching enables a more ordered beginning of the growth of halide perovskite on the electron transport layer, avoiding the formation of a deteriorated buried interface. The constructed buried interface exhibits suppressed defects, strain, better crystallinity, reduced ion migration and fewer voids. The best performing PSCs deliver a power conversion efficiency of 25.17%. Moreover, PSCs with an initial power conversion efficiency of 24.4% maintain 90% of the original value after operating for 1,000 h.

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Fig. 1: Termination and beginning of the periodic crystal lattice.
Fig. 2: The stress at the buried interface.
Fig. 3: Optimizing the buried interface.
Fig. 4: Optoelectronic properties of the buried interfaces.
Fig. 5: Stability under coupled light and electric fields.
Fig. 6: Effect of buried interface on photovoltaic performance.

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Data availability

All the data supporting the findings of this study are available within this article and its Supplementary Information. Any additional information can be obtained from corresponding authors on reasonable request. Source Data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We thank BL14B1 in Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility for providing the beam time. Q.Z acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. NSFC 52272178), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant nos. 2019YFE0114100 and 2019YFA0707003), and C.L acknowledges the Peking University-BHP Carbon and Climate Wei-Ming PhD Scholars (grant no. WM202201). G.Z. acknowledges the Shanghai Sailing Program (grant no. 21YF1453500), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 12104467) and Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. 2023305).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Chao Luo, Guanhaojie Zheng.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Lab for Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Chao Luo, Feng Gao, Xianjin Wang, Changling Zhan & Qing Zhao

  2. Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), Zhangjiang Lab, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

    Guanhaojie Zheng & Xingyu Gao

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Guanhaojie Zheng & Xingyu Gao

  4. Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

    Guanhaojie Zheng & Xingyu Gao

  5. Peking University Yangtze Delta Institute of Optoelectronics, Nantong, China

    Qing Zhao

  6. Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing, China

    Qing Zhao

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Contributions

Q.Z. and C.L. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. C.L. and X.W. contributed to the fabrication of PSCs. G.Z. and X.G. provided the GIWAXS characterization and analysis. X.W. performed the SEM characterizations and film microstructure analysis. F.G. synthesized the relevant chemicals and performed the MPP tracking characterization. C.L., X.W., F.G. and C.Z. contributed to the J–V and EQE measurements. Q.Z. supervised the whole project. Q.Z. and C.L. co-wrote the paper. All of the authors were involved in the characterization of films and discussion of data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qing Zhao.

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Nature Photonics thanks Nazario Martin and Changduk Yang for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Notes 1–3, Figs. 1–41, Tables 1–5 and references.

Supplementary Video 1

Observation of ion migration in control sample.

Supplementary Video 2

Observation of ion migration in target sample.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Raw data of J–V curve in Fig. 6d.

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Luo, C., Zheng, G., Gao, F. et al. Engineering the buried interface in perovskite solar cells via lattice-matched electron transport layer. Nat. Photon. 17, 856–864 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-023-01247-4

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