Defect Physics and (In)Stability in Metal-halide Perovskite Semiconductors

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Date 04.10.2018
Hour 16:0017:00
Speaker Dr. Annamaria Petrozza
Center for Nano Science and Technology @Polimi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia,
Milan, Italy
Location
Category Conferences - Seminars
ChE-605 - Highlights in Energy Research seminar series
Semiconducting metal-halide perovskites present various types of chemical interactions which give them a characteristic fluctuating structure sensitive to the operating conditions of the device, to which they adjust. This makes the control of structure-properties relationship, especially at interfaces where the device realizes its function, the crucial step in order to control devices operation. In particular, given their simple processability at relatively low temperature, one can expect an intrinsic level of structural/chemical disorder of the semiconductor which results in the formation of defects.
Here, first I will present our results on the role of structural and point defects in determining the nature and dynamic of photo-carriers in metal-halide perovskites. Then, I will discuss our understanding of key parameters which must be taken into consideration in order to evaluate the suscettibility of the perovkite crystals (2D and 3D) to the formation of defects, allowing one to proceed through a predictive synthetic procedure. Finally, I will show the correlation between the presence/formation of defects and the observed semiconductor instabilities. Instabilities are manifested as light-induced ion migration and segregation, eventually leading to material degradation under prolonged exposure to light. Understanding, controlling and eventually blocking such material instabilities are fundamental steps towards large scale exploitation of perovskite in optoelectronic devices. By combining photoluminescence measurements under controlled conditions with ab initio simulations we identify photo-instabilities related to competing light-induced formation and annihilation of trap states, disclosing their characteristic length and time scales and the factors responsible for both processes. We show that short range/short time defect annihilation can prevail over defect formation, happening on longer scales, when effectively blocking undercoordinated surface sites, which act as a defect reservoir. By an effective surface passivation strategy we are thus able to stabilize the perovskite layer towards such photo-induced instabilities, leading to improved optoelectronic material quality and enhanced photo-stability in a working solar cell. The proposed strategy represents a simple solution towards longer stability perovskite thin films that could be easily implemented in large scale manufacturing.

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Highlights in Energy Research

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