Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review Article
  • Published:

Understanding the physical properties of hybrid perovskites for photovoltaic applications

Nature Reviews Materials volume 2, Article number: 17042 (2017) Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

New photovoltaic materials have been searched for in the past decades for clean and renewable solar energy conversion with an objective of reducing the levelized cost of electricity (that is, the unit price of electricity over the course of the device lifetime). An emerging family of semiconductor materials — organic–inorganic halide perovskites (OIHPs) — are the focus of the photovoltaic research community owing to their use of low cost, nature-abundant raw materials, low-temperature and scalable solution fabrication processes, and, in particular, the very high power conversion efficiencies that have been achieved within the short time of their development. In this Review, we summarize and critically assess the most recent advances in understanding the physical properties of both 3D and low-dimensional OIHPs that favour a small open-circuit voltage deficit and high power conversion efficiency. Several prominent topics in this field on the unique properties of OIHPs are surveyed, including defect physics, ferroelectricity, exciton dissociation processes, carrier recombination lifetime and photon recycling. The impact of ion migration on solar cell efficiency and stability are also critically analysed. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges in the commercialization of OIHP photovoltaics.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Exciton or free charge generation under illumination in OIHPs?
Figure 2: Electromechanical properties of OIHPs.
Figure 3: Photon recycling effect in OIHPs?
Figure 4: Defect tolerance of OIHPs.
Figure 5: Surface charge recombinations in OIHPs.
Figure 6: Charge trap densities and surface passivation of OIHPs.
Figure 7: Ion migration in OIHPs.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Li, X. et al. A vacuum flash-assisted solution process for high-efficiency large-area perovskite solar cells. Science 353, 58–62 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Baikie, T. et al. Synthesis and crystal chemistry of the hybrid perovskite (CH3NH3)PbI3 for solid-state sensitised solar cell applications. J. Mater. Chem. A 1, 5628–5641 (2013). A pioneering study of the thermal stability and crystallography of perovskite materials, especially MAPbI3.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Divitini, G. et al. In situ observation of heat-induced degradation of perovskite solar cells. Nat. Energy 1, 15012 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Stoumpos, C. C., Malliakas, C. D. & Kanatzidis, M. G. Semiconducting tin and lead iodide perovskites with organic cations: phase transitions, high mobilities, and near-infrared photoluminescent properties. Inorg. Chem. 52, 9019–9038 (2013). A pioneering study of all kinds of optoelectronic properties of Pb-based and Sn-based hybrid (and all-inorganic) perovskite materials.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Niu, G., Guo, X. & Wang, L. Review of recent progress in chemical stability of perovskite solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. A 3, 8970–8980 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jensen, N., Hausner, R., Bergmann, R., Werner, J. & Rau, U. Optimization and characterization of amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Prog. Photovoltaics 10, 1–14 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Xiao, Z. et al. Solvent annealing of perovskite-induced crystal growth for photovoltaic-device efficiency enhancement. Adv. Mater. 26, 6503–6509 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee, M. M., Teuscher, J., Miyasaka, T., Murakami, T. N. & Snaith, H. J. Efficient hybrid solar cells based on meso-superstructured organometal halide perovskites. Science 338, 643–647 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zhao, J., Wang, A., Green, M. A. & Ferrazza, F. 19.8% efficient “honeycomb” textured multicrystalline and 24.4% monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 1991–1993 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Brivio, F., Butler, K. T., Walsh, A. & Van Schilfgaarde, M. Relativistic quasiparticle self-consistent electronic structure of hybrid halide perovskite photovoltaic absorbers. Phys. Rev. B 89, 155204 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Green, M. A., Ho-Baillie, A. & Snaith, H. J. The emergence of perovskite solar cells. Nat. Photonics 8, 506–514 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Yin, W. J., Shi, T. & Yan, Y. Unique properties of halide perovskites as possible origins of the superior solar cell performance. Adv. Mater. 26, 4653–4658 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Giebink, N. C., Wiederrecht, G. P., Wasielewski, M. R. & Forrest, S. R. Thermodynamic efficiency limit of excitonic solar cells. Phys. Rev. B 83, 195326 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Shaklee, K. & Nahory, R. Valley-orbit splitting of free excitons? The absorption edge Si. Phys. Rev. Lett. 24, 942 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Fehrenbach, G., Schafer, W. & Ulbrich, R. Excitonic versus plasma screening in highly excited gallium arsenide. J. Lumin. 30, 154 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lin, Q., Armin, A., Nagiri, R. C. R., Burn, P. L. & Meredith, P. Electro-optics of perovskite solar cells. Nat. Photonics 9, 106–112 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. D’Innocenzo, V. et al. Excitons versus free charges in organo-lead tri-halide perovskites. Nat. Commun. 5 3586 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hirasawa, M., Ishihara, T., Goto, T., Uchida, K. & Miura, N. Magnetoabsorption of the lowest exciton in perovskite-type compound (CH3 NH3)PbI3 . Phys. B: Condens. Matter 201, 427–430 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Tanaka, K. et al. Comparative study on the excitons in lead-halide-based perovskite-type crystals CH3NH3PbBr3CH3NH3PbI3 . Solid State Commun. 127, 619–623 (2003). The EB of MAPbI3 and MAPbBr3 were accurately identified in this magnetoabsorption study.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ishihara, T. Optical properties of PbI-based perovskite structures. J. Lumin. 60, 269–274 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Saba, M. et al. Correlated electron–hole plasma in organometal perovskites. Nat. Commun. 5 5049 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Hu, M. et al. Distinct exciton dissociation behavior of organolead trihalide perovskite and excitonic semiconductors studied in the same system. Small 11, 2164–2169 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Grancini, G. et al. Role of microstructure in the electron–hole interaction of hybrid lead halide perovskites. Nat. Photonics 9, 695–701 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Dong, Q. et al. Electron–hole diffusion lengths >175 μm in solution-grown CH3NH3PbI3 single crystals. Science 347, 967–970 (2015). This study disclosed the intrinsic property of perovskites that enabled the development of solar cell radiation detectors.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Nah, S. et al. Spatially segregated free-carrier and exciton populations in individual lead halide perovskite grains. Nat. Photonics 11, 285–288 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Yang, Y. et al. Observation of a hot-phonon bottleneck in lead-iodide perovskites. Nat. Photonics 10, 53–59 (2016). The first report of long hot carriers in perovskites that may result in real applications.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Yang, Y. et al. Large polarization-dependent exciton optical Stark effect in lead iodide perovskites. Nat. Commun. 7 12613 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Dou, L. et al. Atomically thin two-dimensional organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites. Science 349, 1518–1521 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Stoumpos, C. C. et al. Ruddlesden–Popper hybrid lead iodide perovskite 2D homologous semiconductors. Chem. Mater. 28, 2852–2867 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Giovanni, D. et al. Tunable room-temperature spin-selective optical Stark effect in solution-processed layered halide perovskites. Sci. Adv. 2, e1600477 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Milot, R. L. et al. Charge-carrier dynamics in 2D hybrid metal–halide perovskites. Nano Lett. 16, 7001–7007 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wu, X., Trinh, M. T. & Zhu, X.-Y. Excitonic many-body interactions in two-dimensional lead iodide perovskite quantum wells. J. Phys. Chem. C 119, 14714–14721 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Blancon, J.-C. et al. Extremely efficient internal exciton dissociation through edge states in layered 2D perovskites. Science 355, 1288–1292 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Yaffe, O. et al. Excitons in ultrathin organic–inorganic perovskite crystals. Phys. Rev. B 92, 045414 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Tanaka, K. et al. Image charge effect on two-dimensional excitons in an inorganic–organic quantum-well crystal. Phys. Rev. B 71, 045312 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Johnston, M. B. & Herz, L. M. Hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics: charge-carrier recombination, diffusion, and radiative efficiencies. Acc. Chem. Res. 49, 146–154 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Milot, R. L., Eperon, G. E., Snaith, H. J., Johnston, M. B. & Herz, L. M. Temperature-dependent charge-carrier dynamics in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite thin films. Adv. Funct. Mater. 25, 6218–6227 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Wehrenfennig, C., Eperon, G. E., Johnston, M. B., Snaith, H. J. & Herz, L. M. High charge carrier mobilities and lifetimes in organolead trihalide perovskites. Adv. Mater. 26, 1584–1589 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Wehrenfennig, C., Liu, M., Snaith, H. J., Johnston, M. B. & Herz, L. M. Charge-carrier dynamics in vapour-deposited films of the organolead halide perovskite CH3 NH3PbI3 − x Clx . Energy Environ. Sci. 7, 2269–2275 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Yamada, Y., Nakamura, T., Endo, M., Wakamiya, A. & Kanemitsu, Y. Photocarrier recombination dynamics in perovskite CH3 NH3PbI3 for solar cell applications. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 11610–11613 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Stranks, S. D. et al. Recombination kinetics in organic–inorganic perovskites: excitons, free charge, and subgap states. Phys. Rev. Appl. 2, 034007 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Manser, J. S. & Kamat, P. V. Band filling with free charge carriers in organometal halide perovskites. Nat. Photonics 8, 737–743 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Deschler, F. et al. High photoluminescence efficiency and optically pumped lasing in solution-processed mixed halide perovskite semiconductors. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 1421–1426 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Savenije, T. J. et al. Thermally activated exciton dissociation and recombination control the carrier dynamics in organometal halide perovskite. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 2189–2194 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Oga, H., Saeki, A., Ogomi, Y., Hayase, S. & Seki, S. Improved understanding of the electronic and energetic landscapes of perovskite solar cells: high local charge carrier mobility, reduced recombination, and extremely shallow traps. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 13818–13825 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Chen, Y. et al. Extended carrier lifetimes and diffusion in hybrid perovskites revealed by Hall effect and photoconductivity measurements. Nat. Commun. 7 12253 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Wang, Q., Dong, Q., Li, T., Gruverman, A. & Huang, J. Thin insulating tunneling contacts for efficient and water-resistant perovskite solar cells. Adv. Mater. 28, 6734–6739 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Pérez- del-Rey, D. et al. Strontium insertion in methylammonium lead iodide: long charge carrier lifetime and high fill-factor solar cells. Adv. Mater. 28, 9839–9845 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. deQuilettes, D. W. et al. Photoluminescence lifetimes exceeding 8 μs and quantum yields exceeding 30% in hybrid perovskite thin films by ligand passivation. ACS Energy Lett. 1, 438–444 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Blackburn, J. L. Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes in solar energy harvesting. ACS Energy Lett. 2, 1598–1613 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Zheng, F., Tan, L. Z., Liu, S. & Rappe, A. M. Rashba spin–orbit coupling enhanced carrier lifetime in CH3NH3PbI3 . Nano Lett. 15, 7794–7800 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Nelson, R. & Sobers, R. Minority-carrier lifetimes and internal quantum efficiency of surface-free GaAs. J. Appl. Phys. 49, 6103–6108 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Moore, D. T. et al. Crystallization kinetics of organic–inorganic trihalide perovskites and the role of the lead anion in crystal growth. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 2350–2358 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Köster, U. Crystallization of amorphous silicon films. Phys. Status Solidi A 48, 313–321 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Yin, W.-J., Shi, T. & Yan, Y. Unusual defect physics in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cell absorber. Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 063903 (2014). Pioneering theoretical work that revealed the excellent defect tolerance of MAPbI3, which led to high-efficiency solar cells.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Egger, D. A., Rappe, A. M. & Kronik, L. Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites on the move. Acc. Chem. Res. 49, 573–581 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Liu, S. et al. Ferroelectric domain wall induced band gap reduction and charge separation in organometal halide perovskites. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 693–699 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Fan, Z. et al. Ferroelectricity of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 1155–1161 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Frost, J. M. et al. Atomistic origins of high-performance in hybrid halide perovskite solar cells. Nano Lett. 14, 2584–2590 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Zheng, F., Takenaka, H., Wang, F., Koocher, N. Z. & Rappe, A. M. First-principles calculation of the bulk photovoltaic effect in CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbI3 − x Clx . J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 31–37 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Dang, Y. et al. Bulk crystal growth of hybrid perovskite material CH3NH3PbI3 . CrystEngComm 17, 665–670 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Aizu, K. Possible species of ferromagnetic, ferroelectric, and ferroelastic crystals. Phys. Rev. B 2, 754–772 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Aizu, K. Possible species of “ferroelastic” crystals and of simultaneously ferroelectric and ferroelastic crystals. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 27, 387–396 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Mosconi, E., Quarti, C., Ivanovska, T., Ruani, G. & De Angelis, F. Structural and electronic properties of organo-halide lead perovskites: a combined IR-spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics investigation. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 16, 16137–16144 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Chen, T. et al. Rotational dynamics of organic cations in the CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 17, 31278–31286 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Leguy, A. M. et al. The dynamics of methylammonium ions in hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells. Nat. Commun. 6 7124 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Hermes, I. M. et al. Ferroelastic fingerprints in methylammonium lead iodide perovskite. J. Phys. Chem. C 120, 5724–5731 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Wei, J. et al. Hysteresis analysis based on the ferroelectric effect in hybrid perovskite solar cells. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 3937–3945 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Pintilie, L. & Alexe, M. Ferroelectric-like hysteresis loop in nonferroelectric systems. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 112903 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  70. Scott, J. Ferroelectrics go bananas. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 20, 021001 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  71. Xiao, Z. et al. Giant switchable photovoltaic effect in organometal trihalide perovskite devices. Nat. Mater. 14, 193–198 (2015). The first work that demonstrated the ion-migration effect and switchable photovoltaic effect in OIHPs.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  72. Coll, M. et al. Polarization switching and light-enhanced piezoelectricity in lead halide perovskites. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 1408–1413 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  73. Balke, N. et al. Local detection of activation energy for ionic transport in lithium cobalt oxide. Nano Lett. 12, 3399–3403 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. Bark, C. et al. Switchable induced polarization in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures. Nano Lett. 12, 1765–1771 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  75. Honig, M. et al. Local electrostatic imaging of striped domain order in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 . Nat. Mater. 12, 1112–1118 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. Strelcov, E. et al. CH3NH3PbI3 perovskites: ferroelasticity revealed. Sci. Adv. 3, e1602165 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  77. Rothmann, M. U. et al. Direct observation of intrinsic twin domains in tetragonal CH3NH3PbI3 . Nat. Commun. 8, 14547 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  78. Liu, S., Zheng, F., Grinberg, I. & Rappe, A. M. Photoferroelectric and photopiezoelectric properties of organometal halide perovskites. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 7, 1460–1465 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  79. Zhou, Y. et al. Giant photostriction in organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites. Nat. Commun. 7, 11193 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  80. Mosconi, E. & De Angelis, F. Mobile ions in organohalide perovskites: interplay of electronic structure and dynamics. ACS Energy Lett. 1, 182–188 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  81. Fan, Z., Sun, K. & Wang, J. Perovskites for photovoltaics: a combined review of organic–inorganic halide perovskites and ferroelectric oxide perovskites. J. Mater. Chem. A 3, 18809–18828 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  82. Kulbak, M., Cahen, D. & Hodes, G. How important is the organic part of lead halide perovskite photovoltaic cells? Efficient CsPbBr3 cells. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 2452–2456 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  83. Swarnkar, A. et al. Quantum dot-induced phase stabilization of α-CsPbI3 perovskite for high-efficiency photovoltaics. Science 354, 92–95 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  84. Zhu, H. et al. Organic cations might not be essential to the remarkable properties of band edge carriers in lead halide perovskites. Adv. Mater. 29, 1603072 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  85. Zhu, H. et al. Screening in crystalline liquids protects energetic carriers in hybrid perovskites. Science 353, 1409–1413 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  86. Guo, Z. et al. Long-range hot-carrier transport in hybrid perovskites visualized by ultrafast microscopy. Science 356, 59–62 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  87. Zhang, C. et al. Charge recombination and band-edge shift in the dye-sensitized Mg2+-doped TiO2 solar cells. J. Phys. Chem. C 115, 16418–16424 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  88. Stranks, S. D. et al. Electron–hole diffusion lengths exceeding 1 micrometer in an organometal trihalide perovskite absorber. Science 342, 341–344 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  89. Gao, Y. et al. Surface doping of conjugated polymers by graphene oxide and its application for organic electronic devices. Adv. Mater. 23, 1903–1908 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  90. Zhu, F. et al. The origin of higher open-circuit voltage in Zn-doped TiO2 nanoparticle-based dye-sensitized solar cells. ChemPhysChem 13, 3731–3737 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  91. Shi, Y. et al. Work function engineering of graphene electrode via chemical doping. ACS Nano 4, 2689–2694 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  92. Bi, C. et al. Understanding the formation and evolution of interdiffusion grown organolead halide perovskite thin films by thermal annealing. J. Mater. Chem. A 2, 18508–18514 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  93. Etgar, L. et al. Mesoscopic CH3NH3PbI3/TiO2 heterojunction solar cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 17396–17399 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  94. Laban, W. A. & Etgar, L. Depleted hole conductor-free lead halide iodide heterojunction solar cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 6, 3249–3253 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  95. You, J. et al. Low-temperature solution-processed perovskite solar cells with high efficiency and flexibility. ACS Nano 8, 1674–1680 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  96. Yuan, Y. et al. Anomalous photovoltaic effect in organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells. Sci. Adv. 3, e1602164 (2017). The first observation of the anomalous photovoltaic effect in lateral OIHP solar cells, uncovering an abrupt band bending around grain boundaries caused by ion accumulation.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  97. Pazos-Outón, L. M. et al. Photon recycling in lead iodide perovskite solar cells. Science 351, 1430–1433 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  98. Fang, Y., Wei, H., Dong, Q. & Huang, J. Quantification of re-absorption and re-emission processes to determine photon recycling efficiency in perovskite single crystals. Nat. Commun. 8, 14417 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  99. Richter, J. M. et al. Enhancing photoluminescence yields in lead halide perovskites by photon recycling and light out-coupling. Nat. Commun. 7, 13941 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  100. Xiao, Z., Meng, W., Wang, J., Mitzi, D. B. & Yan, Y. Searching for promising new perovskite-based photovoltaic absorbers: the importance of electronic dimensionality. Mater. Horiz. 4, 206–216 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  101. Kim, Y. et al. Pure cubic-phase hybrid iodobismuthates AgBi2I7 for thin-film photovoltaics. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 55, 9586–9590 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  102. Smith, I. C., Hoke, E. T., Solis-Ibarra, D., McGehee, M. D. & Karunadasa, H. I. A layered hybrid perovskite solar-cell absorber with enhanced moisture stability. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 126, 11414–11417 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  103. Slavney, A. H. et al. Chemical approaches to addressing the instability and toxicity of lead–halide perovskite absorbers. Inorg. Chem. 56, 46–55 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  104. De Wolf, S. et al. Organometallic halide perovskites: sharp optical absorption edge and its relation to photovoltaic performance. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 1035–1039 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  105. Sadhanala, A. et al. Preparation of single-phase films of CH3NH3Pb(I1− xBrx)3 with sharp optical band edges. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 2501–2505 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  106. Samiee, M. et al. Defect density and dielectric constant in perovskite solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 153502 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  107. McMeekin, D. P. et al. A mixed-cation lead mixed-halide perovskite absorber for tandem solar cells. Science 351, 151–155 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  108. Wei, H. et al. Sensitive X-ray detectors made of methylammonium lead tribromide perovskite single crystals. Nat. Photonics 10, 333–339 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  109. Steirer, K. X. et al. Defect tolerance in methylammonium lead triiodide perovskite. ACS Energy Lett. 1, 360–366 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  110. Mosconi, E., Meggiolaro, D., Snaith, H. J., Stranks, S. D. & De Angelis, F. Light-induced annihilation of Frenkel defects in organo-lead halide perovskites. Energy Environ. Sci. 9, 3180–3187 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  111. Zhang, W. et al. Photo-induced halide redistribution in organic-inorganic perovskite films. Nat. Commun. 7, 11683 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  112. Fang, Y., Dong, Q., Shao, Y., Yuan, Y. & Huang, J. Highly narrowband perovskite single-crystal photodetectors enabled by surface-charge recombination. Nat. Photonics 9, 679–686 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  113. Leblebici, S. Y. et al. Facet-dependent photovoltaic efficiency variations in single grains of hybrid halide perovskite. Nat. Energy 1, 16093 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  114. Shao, Y., Xiao, Z., Bi, C., Yuan, Y. & Huang, J. Origin and elimination of photocurrent hysteresis by fullerene passivation in CH3NH3PbI3 planar heterojunction solar cells. Nat. Commun. 5, 5784 (2014). This pioneering experimental work demonstrated that surface defects on OIHP can cause photocurrent hysteresis and that fullerene passivation can efficiently reduce photocurrent hysteresis.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  115. Murali, B. et al. Surface restructuring of hybrid perovskite crystals. ACS Energy Lett. 1, 1119–1126 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  116. Yang, Y. et al. Low surface recombination velocity in solution-grown CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite single crystal. Nat. Commun. 6, 7961 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  117. Zhang, F. et al. Film-through large perovskite grains formation via a combination of sequential thermal and solvent treatment. J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 8554–8561 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  118. Nie, W. et al. High-efficiency solution-processed perovskite solar cells with millimeter-scale grains. Science 347, 522–525 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  119. Chen, Q. et al. Under the spotlight: The organic–inorganic hybrid halide perovskite for optoelectronic applications. Nano Today 10, 355–396 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  120. Bi, C. et al. Non-wetting surface-driven high-aspect-ratio crystalline grain growth for efficient hybrid perovskite solar cells. Nat. Commun. 6, 7747 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  121. de Quilettes, D. W. et al. Impact of microstructure on local carrier lifetime in perovskite solar cells. Science 348, 683–686 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  122. Xing, G. et al. Low-temperature solution-processed wavelength-tunable perovskites for lasing. Nat. Mater. 13, 476–480 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  123. Shi, D. et al. Low trap-state density and long carrier diffusion in organolead trihalide perovskite single crystals. Science 347, 519–522 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  124. Saidaminov, M. I. et al. High-quality bulk hybrid perovskite single crystals within minutes by inverse temperature crystallization. Nat. Commun. 6, 7586 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  125. Bi, Y. et al. Charge carrier lifetimes exceeding 15 μs in methylammonium lead iodide single crystals. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 7, 923–928 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  126. Leijtens, T. et al. Carrier trapping and recombination: the role of defect physics in enhancing the open circuit voltage of metal halide perovskite solar cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 9, 3472–3481 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  127. Baeg, K. J., Binda, M., Natali, D., Caironi, M. & Noh, Y. Y. Organic light detectors: photodiodes and phototransistors. Adv. Mater. 25, 4267–4295 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  128. Guo, F. et al. A nanocomposite ultraviolet photodetector based on interfacial trap-controlled charge injection. Nat. Nanotechnol. 7, 798–802 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  129. Yuan, Y. & Huang, J. Ultrahigh gain, low noise, ultraviolet photodetectors with highly aligned organic crystals. Adv. Opt. Mater. 4, 264–270 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  130. Shao, Y., Yuan, Y. & Huang, J. Correlation of energy disorder and open-circuit voltage in hybrid perovskite solar cells. Nat. Energy 1, 15001 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  131. Ihly, R. et al. Efficient charge extraction and slow recombination in organic–inorganic perovskites capped with semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. Energy Environ. Sci. 9, 1439–1449 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  132. Schulz, P. et al. Charge transfer dynamics between carbon nanotubes and hybrid organic metal halide perovskite films. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 7, 418–425 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  133. Wang, Q., Liu, X., Shao, Y., Gao, Y. & Huang, J. Qualification of p and n self-doping in CH3NH3PbI3 Films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 163508 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  134. Wetzelaer, G. J. A. et al. Trap-assisted non-radiative recombination in organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells. Adv. Mater. 27, 1837–1841 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  135. Adinolfi, V. et al. The in-gap electronic state spectrum of methylammonium lead iodide single-crystal perovskites. Adv. Mater. 28, 3406–3410 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  136. Liu, P. et al. Interfacial electronic structure at the CH3NH3PbI3/MoOx interface. Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 193903 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  137. Wu, X. et al. Trap states in lead iodide perovskites. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 2089–2096 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  138. Chae, J., Dong, Q., Huang, J. & Centrone, A. Chloride incorporation process in CH3NH3PbI3 − x Clx perovskites via nanoscale bandgap maps. Nano Lett. 15, 8114–8121 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  139. Jiang, M. et al. Enhancing the performance of planar organo-lead halide perovskite solar cells by using a mixed halide source. J. Mater. Chem. A 3, 963–967 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  140. Brenner, T. M., Egger, D. A., Kronik, L., Hodes, G. & Cahen, D. Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites: low-cost semiconductors with intriguing charge-transport properties. Nat. Rev. Mater. 1, 15007 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  141. Yuan, Y., Wang, Q. & Huang, J. in Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics: From Fundamentals to Device Architectures (eds Park, N.-G., Grätzel, M. & Miyasaka, T. ) 137–162 (Springer, 2016).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  142. Yuan, Y. & Huang, J. Ion migration in organometal trihalide perovskite and its impact on photovoltaic efficiency and stability. Acc. Chem. Res. 49, 286–293 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  143. Yuan, Y., Xiao, Z., Yang, B. & Huang, J. Arising applications of ferroelectric materials in photovoltaic devices. J. Mater. Chem. A 2, 6027–6041 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  144. Yuan, Y. et al. Photovoltaic switching mechanism in lateral structure hybrid perovskite solar cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 5, 1500615 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  145. Deng, Y., Xiao, Z. & Huang, J. Light induced self-poling effect in organometal trihalide perovskite solar cells for increased device efficiency and stability. Adv. Energy Mater. 5, 1500721 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  146. Zou, Y. & Holmes, R. J. Temperature-dependent bias poling and hysteresis in planar organo-metal halide perovskite photovoltaic cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 6, 1501994 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  147. Nie, W. et al. Light-activated photocurrent degradation and self-healing in perovskite solar cells. Nat. Commun. 7, 11574 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  148. Huang, F. et al. Fatigue behavior of planar CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells revealed by light on/off diurnal cycling. Nano Energy 27, 509–514 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  149. Xing, J. et al. Ultrafast ion migration in hybrid perovskite polycrystalline thin films under light and suppression in single crystals. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18, 30484–30490 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  150. Yuan, Y. et al. Electric field driven reversible conversion between methylammonium lead triiodide perovskites and lead iodide at elevated temperature. Adv. Energy Mater. 6, 1501803 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  151. Zhao, Y. et al. A polymer scaffold for self-healing perovskite solar cells. Nat. Commun. 7, 10228 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  152. Shockley, W. & Queisser, H. J. Detailed balance limit of efficiency of p–n junction solar cells. J. Appl. Phys. 32, 510–519 (1961).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  153. Kirchartz, T., Rau, U., Kurth, M., Mattheis, J. & Werner, J. Comparative study of electroluminescence from Cu(In, Ga)Se2 and Si solar cells. Thin Solid Films 515, 6238–6242 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  154. Tvingstedt, K. et al. Radiative efficiency of lead iodide based perovskite solar cells. Sci. Rep. 4, 6071 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  155. Yao, J. et al. Quantifying losses in open-circuit voltage in solution-processable solar cells. Phys. Rev. Appl. 4, 014020 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  156. Bi, D. et al. Efficient luminescent solar cells based on tailored mixed-cation perovskites. Sci. Adv. 2, e1501170 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) (Grant No. N00014-15-1-2713), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (Grant No. A9550-16-1-0299) and National Science Foundation under awards of OIA-1538893, ECCS-1252623 and DMR-1505535. Y. Yuan also thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51673218) for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, 68588-0656, Nebraska, USA

    Jinsong Huang, Yongbo Yuan & Yuchuan Shao

  2. Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 27599, North Carolina, USA

    Jinsong Huang

  3. Hunan Key Laboratory of Super Microstructure and Ultrafast Process, School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, P. R. China

    Yongbo Yuan

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, University of Toledo, Toledo, 43606, Ohio, USA

    Yanfa Yan

Authors
  1. Jinsong Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yongbo Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuchuan Shao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yanfa Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jinsong Huang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Huang, J., Yuan, Y., Shao, Y. et al. Understanding the physical properties of hybrid perovskites for photovoltaic applications. Nat Rev Mater 2, 17042 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2017.42

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2017.42

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing