Photocurrent spectroscopy of perovskite solar cells over a wide temperature range from 15 to 350 K

Journal article

Solar cells based on metal halide perovskite thin films show great promise for energy generation in a range of environments from terrestrial installations to space applications. Here we assess the device characteristics of the prototypical perovskite solar cells based on methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) over a broad temperature range from 15 to 350 K (−258 to 77 °C). For these devices, we observe a peak in the short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage at 200 K (−73 °C) with decent operation maintained up to 350 K. We identify the clear signature of crystalline PbI2 contributing directly to the low-temperature photocurrent spectra, showing that PbI2 plays an active role (beyond passivation) in CH3NH3PbI3 solar cells. Finally we observe a blue-shift in the photocurrent spectrum with respect to the absorption spectrum at low temperature (15 K), allowing us to extract a lower limit on the exciton binding energy of 9.1 meV for CH3NH3PbI3.

Authors: Patel, J; Lin, Q; Zadvorna, O; Davies, C; Herz, L

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Journal: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
• Volume: 2018
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 263-268
• Publication date: 2017-12-20
• Acceptance date: 2017-12-20
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b02935
• ISSN: 1948-7185