Navigating grain boundaries in perovskite solar cells

Grain boundaries (GBs) play an important role in determining recombination in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Vaynzof et al. report on this effect using both experimental characterizations and theoretical device simulations. They find that small hidden grains accompanying a large number of GBs act as non-radiative recombination hotspots, suggesting that eliminating small grains can improve PSC performance. Grain boundaries (GBs) play an important role in determining recombination in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Vaynzof et al. report on this effect using both experimental characterizations and theoretical device simulations. They find that small hidden grains accompanying a large number of GBs act as non-radiative recombination hotspots, suggesting that eliminating small grains can improve PSC performance. Small grains as recombination hot spots in perovskite solar cellsAn et al.MatterMarch 23, 2021In BriefThis work combines experimental results and numerical device simulations to investigate the role of grain size in polycrystalline perovskite films employed as active layers in photovoltaic devices. We find that the defect density in the films is inversely proportional to (grain area)3/2, which makes small grains particularly detrimental to device performance. Full-Text PDF