Small grains as recombination hot spots in perovskite solar cells

Non-radiative recombination in the perovskite bulk and at its interfaces prohibits the photovoltaic performance from reaching the Shockley-Queisser limit. While interfacial recombination has been widely discussed and demonstrated, bulk recombination and especially the influence of grain boundaries remain under debate. Most studies explore the role of grain boundaries on perovskite films rather than devices, making it difficult to link the film properties with those of the devices. Here, we systematically investigate the effects of grain boundaries on the performance of perovskite solar cells by two different methods. By combining experimental characterization with theoretical device simulations, we find that the recombination at grain boundaries is diffusion limited and hence is inversely proportional to the grain area to the power of 3/2. Consequently, the prevalence of small grains—which act as recombination hot spots—across the perovskite active layer dictates the photovoltaic performance of the perovskite solar cells.