DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Benign ferroelastic twin boundaries in halide perovskites for charge carrier transport and recombination

Abstract

Abstract Grain boundaries have been established to impact charge transport, recombination and thus the power conversion efficiency of metal halide perovskite thin film solar cells. As a special category of grain boundaries, ferroelastic twin boundaries have been recently discovered to exist in both CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 thin films and single crystals. However, their impact on the carrier transport and recombination in perovskites remains unexplored. Here, using the scanning photocurrent microscopy, we find that twin boundaries have negligible influence on the carrier transport across them. Photoluminescence (PL) imaging and the spatial-resolved PL intensity and lifetime scanning confirm the electronically benign nature of the twin boundaries, in striking contrast to regular grain boundaries which block the carrier transport and behave as the non-radiative recombination centers. Finally, the twin-boundary areas are found still easier to degrade than grain interior.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ; ; ORCiD logo; ; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1781856
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1816510
Grant/Contract Number:  
CHOISE; AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Volume: 11 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 42 ENGINEERING

Citation Formats

Xiao, Xun, Li, Wenhao, Fang, Yanjun, Liu, Ye, Shao, Yuchuan, Yang, Shuang, Zhao, Jingjing, Dai, Xuezeng, Zia, Rashid, and Huang, Jinsong. Benign ferroelastic twin boundaries in halide perovskites for charge carrier transport and recombination. United Kingdom: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16075-1.
Xiao, Xun, Li, Wenhao, Fang, Yanjun, Liu, Ye, Shao, Yuchuan, Yang, Shuang, Zhao, Jingjing, Dai, Xuezeng, Zia, Rashid, & Huang, Jinsong. Benign ferroelastic twin boundaries in halide perovskites for charge carrier transport and recombination. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16075-1
Xiao, Xun, Li, Wenhao, Fang, Yanjun, Liu, Ye, Shao, Yuchuan, Yang, Shuang, Zhao, Jingjing, Dai, Xuezeng, Zia, Rashid, and Huang, Jinsong. Tue . "Benign ferroelastic twin boundaries in halide perovskites for charge carrier transport and recombination". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16075-1.
@article{osti_1781856,
title = {Benign ferroelastic twin boundaries in halide perovskites for charge carrier transport and recombination},
author = {Xiao, Xun and Li, Wenhao and Fang, Yanjun and Liu, Ye and Shao, Yuchuan and Yang, Shuang and Zhao, Jingjing and Dai, Xuezeng and Zia, Rashid and Huang, Jinsong},
abstractNote = {Abstract Grain boundaries have been established to impact charge transport, recombination and thus the power conversion efficiency of metal halide perovskite thin film solar cells. As a special category of grain boundaries, ferroelastic twin boundaries have been recently discovered to exist in both CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 thin films and single crystals. However, their impact on the carrier transport and recombination in perovskites remains unexplored. Here, using the scanning photocurrent microscopy, we find that twin boundaries have negligible influence on the carrier transport across them. Photoluminescence (PL) imaging and the spatial-resolved PL intensity and lifetime scanning confirm the electronically benign nature of the twin boundaries, in striking contrast to regular grain boundaries which block the carrier transport and behave as the non-radiative recombination centers. Finally, the twin-boundary areas are found still easier to degrade than grain interior.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-16075-1},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 11,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Tue May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Tue May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}

Works referenced in this record:

Tailoring solvent coordination for high-speed, room-temperature blading of perovskite photovoltaic films
journal, December 2019

  • Deng, Yehao; Van Brackle, Charles H.; Dai, Xuezeng
  • Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax7537

Self-formed grain boundary healing layer for highly efficient CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells
journal, June 2016


Stabilizing halide perovskite surfaces for solar cell operation with wide-bandgap lead oxysalts
journal, August 2019


Thin single crystal perovskite solar cells to harvest below-bandgap light absorption
journal, December 2017


Benefit of Grain Boundaries in Organic–Inorganic Halide Planar Perovskite Solar Cells
journal, February 2015

  • Yun, Jae S.; Ho-Baillie, Anita; Huang, Shujuan
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b00182

Strained hybrid perovskite thin films and their impact on the intrinsic stability of perovskite solar cells
journal, November 2017


Limits of Carrier Diffusion in n -Type and p -Type CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 Perovskite Single Crystals
journal, August 2016

  • Semonin, Octavi E.; Elbaz, Giselle A.; Straus, Daniel B.
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 7, Issue 17
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b01308

Hysteresis Analysis Based on the Ferroelectric Effect in Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells
journal, October 2014

  • Wei, Jing; Zhao, Yicheng; Li, Heng
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 5, Issue 21
  • DOI: 10.1021/jz502111u

Efficient, high yield perovskite photovoltaic devices grown by interdiffusion of solution-processed precursor stacking layers
journal, January 2014

  • Xiao, Zhengguo; Bi, Cheng; Shao, Yuchuan
  • Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1039/C4EE01138D

Low trap-state density and long carrier diffusion in organolead trihalide perovskite single crystals
journal, January 2015


Sequential deposition as a route to high-performance perovskite-sensitized solar cells
journal, July 2013

  • Burschka, Julian; Pellet, Norman; Moon, Soo-Jin
  • Nature, Vol. 499, Issue 7458, p. 316-319
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature12340

Subgrain Special Boundaries in Halide Perovskite Thin Films Restrict Carrier Diffusion
journal, October 2018


Organometal Halide Perovskites as Visible-Light Sensitizers for Photovoltaic Cells
journal, May 2009

  • Kojima, Akihiro; Teshima, Kenjiro; Shirai, Yasuo
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 131, Issue 17, p. 6050-6051
  • DOI: 10.1021/ja809598r

Ferroelectric Poling of Methylammonium Lead Iodide Thin Films
journal, November 2019

  • Röhm, Holger; Leonhard, Tobias; Hoffmann, Michael J.
  • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201908657

Efficient and stable large-area perovskite solar cells with inorganic charge extraction layers
journal, October 2015


Interface engineering of highly efficient perovskite solar cells
journal, July 2014


Growth of CH3NH3PbI3 cuboids with controlled size for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells
journal, August 2014

  • Im, Jeong-Hyeok; Jang, In-Hyuk; Pellet, Norman
  • Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 9, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2014.181

Imaging the Long Transport Lengths of Photo-generated Carriers in Oriented Perovskite Films
journal, December 2016


Role of the Iodide–Methylammonium Interaction in the Ferroelectricity of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3
journal, November 2019

  • Breternitz, J.; Lehmann, F.; Barnett, S. A.
  • Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 59, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/anie.201910599

Origin and elimination of photocurrent hysteresis by fullerene passivation in CH3NH3PbI3 planar heterojunction solar cells
journal, December 2014

  • Shao, Yuchuan; Xiao, Zhengguo; Bi, Cheng
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6784

Single-Crystal MAPbI 3 Perovskite Solar Cells Exceeding 21% Power Conversion Efficiency
journal, May 2019


Ferroic domains regulate photocurrent in single-crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 films self-grown on FTO/TiO2 substrate
journal, June 2018


Ferroelastic Fingerprints in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite
journal, January 2016

  • Hermes, Ilka M.; Bretschneider, Simon A.; Bergmann, Victor W.
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 120, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b11469

Photocurrent Mapping in Single-Crystal Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Nanostructures
journal, November 2016


Electron-Hole Diffusion Lengths Exceeding 1 Micrometer in an Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Absorber
journal, October 2013

  • Stranks, S. D.; Eperon, G. E.; Grancini, G.
  • Science, Vol. 342, Issue 6156, p. 341-344
  • DOI: 10.1126/science.1243982

Domain-wall conduction in ferroelectric BiFeO3 controlled by accumulation of charged defects
journal, November 2016

  • Rojac, Tadej; Bencan, Andreja; Drazic, Goran
  • Nature Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1038/nmat4799

Electro-optics of perovskite solar cells
journal, December 2014

  • Lin, Qianqian; Armin, Ardalan; Nagiri, Ravi Chandra Raju
  • Nature Photonics, Vol. 9, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2014.284

Controllable Self-Induced Passivation of Hybrid Lead Iodide Perovskites toward High Performance Solar Cells
journal, June 2014

  • Chen, Qi; Zhou, Huanping; Song, Tze-Bin
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl501838y

Efficient planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells by vapour deposition
journal, September 2013

  • Liu, Mingzhen; Johnston, Michael B.; Snaith, Henry J.
  • Nature, Vol. 501, Issue 7467, p. 395-398
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature12509

Is CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 Polar?
journal, June 2016

  • G., Sharada; Mahale, Pratibha; Kore, Bhushan P.
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 7, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b00803

Non-wetting surface-driven high-aspect-ratio crystalline grain growth for efficient hybrid perovskite solar cells
journal, July 2015

  • Bi, Cheng; Wang, Qi; Shao, Yuchuan
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8747

Twin domains modulate light-matter interactions in metal halide perovskites
journal, January 2020

  • Liu, Yongtao; Li, Mingxing; Wang, Miaosheng
  • APL Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.5127866

Qualifying composition dependent p and n self-doping in CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3
journal, October 2014

  • Wang, Qi; Shao, Yuchuan; Xie, Haipeng
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 16
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4899051

Low-Noise and Large-Linear-Dynamic-Range Photodetectors Based on Hybrid-Perovskite Thin-Single-Crystals
journal, August 2017

  • Bao, Chunxiong; Chen, Zhaolai; Fang, Yanjun
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 39
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201703209

Statistical models for charge collection efficiency and variance in semiconductor spectrometers
journal, September 1997

  • Ruzin, A.; Nemirovsky, Y.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.366106

Direct observation of intrinsic twin domains in tetragonal CH3NH3PbI3
journal, February 2017

  • Rothmann, Mathias Uller; Li, Wei; Zhu, Ye
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14547

Defect passivation in hybrid perovskite solar cells using quaternary ammonium halide anions and cations
journal, June 2017


CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskites: Ferroelasticity revealed
journal, April 2017


Quantitative Measurement of the Electron and Hole Mobility−Lifetime Products in Semiconductor Nanowires
journal, April 2006

  • Gu, Yi; Romankiewicz, John P.; David, John K.
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 5, p. 948-952
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl052576y

High-efficiency solution-processed perovskite solar cells with millimeter-scale grains
journal, January 2015


Ferroelectricity-free lead halide perovskites
journal, January 2019

  • Gómez, Andrés; Wang, Qiong; Goñi, Alejandro R.
  • Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1039/C9EE00884E

Abnormal crystal growth in CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3−x Cl x using a multi-cycle solution coating process
journal, January 2015

  • Dong, Qingfeng; Yuan, Yongbo; Shao, Yuchuan
  • Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1039/C5EE01179E