Microstructural characterisation of hybrid perovskite solar cells

Abstract

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cell is a new type of thin film photovoltaic technology and has achieved extraordinary improvements in power conversion efficiency in a relatively short time. One of the most i mportant factors leading to the rapid advancement of perovskite solar cells is the ability to manipulate the microstructure of the perovskite layer and the adjacent functional layers within the device. Characterisation of microstructures of perovskite solar cells has been shown particularly challenging due to the fragile nature of the organic-inorganic perovskite compounds and the consequent potential for generating artefacts through the application of the characterization methods themselves. In this talk, we will report our studies on microstructures of perovskite solar cell materials using different characterisation techniques, highlighting the sensitivity of hybrid perovskite compounds under electron beams and presenting some characteristic microstructural features obtained in perovskite solar cell materials, such as twin domains in tetragonal CH3NH3PbI3 thin films and ion segregation in mixed ion perovskites. These microstructural features have different effects on the properties of perovskite solar cells.