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Thin film photovoltaic cells based on hybrid halide perovskite absorbers have emerged as promising candidates for next generation photovoltaics. Here, we have characterized and identified the defect energy distribution in the CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite using admittance spectroscopy, which reveals a deep defect state ∼0.16 eV above the valence band. According to theoretical calculations, the defect state is possibly attributed to iodine interstitials (Ii), which can become the non-radiative recombination centers in the absorber.

Solution-processed metallic nanowire thin film is a promising candidate to replace traditional indium tin oxide as the next-generation transparent and flexible electrode. To date however, the performance of these electrodes is limited by the high contact resistance between contacting nanowires; so improving the point contacts between these nanowires remains a major challenge. Existing methods for reducing the contact resistance require either a high processing power, long treatment time, or the addition of chemical reagents, which could lead to increased manufacturing cost and damage the underlying substrate or device. Here, a nanoscale point reaction process is introduced as a fast and low-power-consumption way to improve the electrical contact properties between metallic nanowires. This is achieved via current-assisted localized joule heating accompanied by electromigration. Localized joule heating effectively targets the high-resistance contact points between nanowires, leading to the automatic removal of surface ligands, welding of contacting nanowires, and the reshaping of the contact pathway between the nanowires to form a more desirable geometry of low resistance for interwire conduction. This result shows the interplay between thermal and electrical interactions at the highly reactive nanocontacts and highlights the control of the nanoscale reaction as a simple and effective way of turning individual metallic nanowires into a highly conductive interconnected nanowire network. The temperature of the adjacent device layers can be kept close to room temperature during the process, making this method especially suitable for use in devices containing thermally sensitive materials such as polymer solar cells.

Understanding the electrically active defects in kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4(CZTSSe) is critical for the continued development of solar cells based on this material, but challenging due to the complex nature of this polycrystalline multinary material. A comparative study of CZTSSe alloys with three different bandgaps, made by introducing different fractions of sulfur during the annealing process, is presented. Using admittance spectroscopy, drive level capacitance profiling, and capacitance‐voltage profiling, the dominant defect energy level present in the low sulfur content device is determined to be 0.134 eV above the valence band maximum, with a bulk defect density of 8 × 1014 cm−3, while the high sulfur content device shows a deeper defect energy level of 0.183 eV and a higher bulk defect density, 8.2 × 1015 cm−3. These findings are consistent with the current density–voltage characteristics of the resulting solar cells and their external quantum efficiency. It suggests that as the sulfur content increases, the bandgap of the absorber is enlarged, leading to an increasing open‐circuit voltage (Voc), that is accompanied by stronger recombination due to the higher defect density of the sulfur‐rich absorber. This is reflected in large Voc deficit and poor carrier collection of the high sulfur content device.

A novel solution-based approach is presented to process earth-abundant Cu(2)ZnSn(S,Se)(4) absorbers using fully dissolved CZTS precursors in which each of the elemental constituents intermix on a molecular scale. This method enables the low-temperature processing of chemically clean kesterite films with excellent homogeneity. The high performance of resulting optoelectronic devices represents a chance to extend the impact of CZTS into the next chapter of thin-film solar cells.

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Emergence of very broad infrared absorption band by hyperdoping of silicon with chalcogens