The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202107850.
Phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs) have been widely predicted to exhibit a range of superlative functional properties; however, because they have only recently been isolated, these properties are yet to be shown to translate to improved performance in any application. PNRs show particular promise for optoelectronics, given their predicted high exciton binding energies, tunable bandgaps, and ultrahigh hole mobilities. Here, we verify the theorized enhanced hole mobility in both solar cells and spacecharge-limited-current devices, demonstrating the potential for PNRs improving hole extraction in universal optoelectronic applications. Specifically, PNRs are demonstrated to act as an effective charge-selective interlayer by enhancing hole extraction from polycrystalline methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI 3 ) perovskite to the poly(triarylamine) semiconductor. Introducing PNRs at the hole-transport/MAPbI 3 interface achieves fill factors above 0.83 and efficiencies exceeding 21% for planar p−i−n (inverted) perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Such efficiencies are typically only reported for single-crystalline MAPbI 3 -based inverted PSCs. Methylammonium-free PSCs also benefit from a PNR interlayer, verifying applicability to architectures incorporating mixed perovskite absorber layers. Device photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy are used to demonstrate that the presence of the PNRs drives more effective carrier extraction. Isolation of the PNRs in space-charge-limited-current hole-only devices improves both hole mobility and conductivity, demonstrating applicability beyond PSCs. This work provides primary experimental evidence that the predicted superlative functional properties of PNRs indeed translate to improved optoelectronic performance.
Metal‐halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have had a transformative impact on the renewable energy landscape since they were first demonstrated just over a decade ago. Outstanding improvements in performance have been demonstrated through structural, compositional, and morphological control of devices, with commercialization now being a reality. Here the authors present an aerosol assisted solvent treatment as a universal method to obtain performance and stability enhancements in PSCs, demonstrating their methodology as a convenient, scalable, and reproducible post‐deposition treatment for PSCs. Their results identify improvements in crystallinity and grain size, accompanied by a narrowing in grain size distribution as the underlying physical changes that drive reductions of electronic and ionic defects. These changes lead to prolonged charge‐carrier lifetimes and ultimately increased device efficiencies. The versatility of the process is demonstrated for PSCs with thick (>1 µm) active layers, large‐areas (>1 cm2) and a variety of device architectures and active layer compositions. This simple post‐deposition process is widely transferable across the field of perovskites, thereby improving the future design principles of these materials to develop large‐area, stable, and efficient PSCs.
Antisolvent-assisted spin coating has been widely used for fabricating metal halide perovskite films with smooth and compact morphology. However, localized nanoscale inhomogeneities exist in these films owing to rapid crystallization, undermining their overall optoelectronic performance. Here, we show that by relaxing the requirement for film smoothness, outstanding film quality can be obtained simply through a post-annealing grain growth process without passivation agents. The morphological changes, driven by a vaporized methylammonium chloride (MACl)–dimethylformamide (DMF) solution, lead to comprehensive defect elimination. Our nanoscale characterization visualizes the local defective clusters in the as-deposited film and their elimination following treatment, which couples with the observation of emissive grain boundaries and excellent inter- and intragrain optoelectronic uniformity in the polycrystalline film. Overcoming these performance-limiting inhomogeneities results in the enhancement of the photoresponse to low-light (<0.1 mW cm –2 ) illumination by up to 40-fold, yielding high-performance photodiodes with superior low-light detection.
Copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) is a stable, wide bandgap (>3.5 eV), low-cost p-type semiconductor widely used in a variety of optoelectronic applications, including thin film transistors, organic light-emitting diodes, and photovoltaic cells. For CuSCN to have impact in the commercial fabrication of such devices, large-area, low-cost deposition techniques are required. Here, we report a novel technique for deposition of CuSCN that addresses these challenges. Aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) is used to deposit highly crystalline CuSCN films at low temperature. AACVD is a commercially viable technique due to its low cost and inherent scalability. In this study, the deposition temperature, CuSCN concentration and carrier gas flow rate were studied and optimized, resulting in homogeneous films grown over areas approaching 30 cm2. At the optimized values, i.e., 60 °C using a 35 mg/mL solution and a carrier gas flow rate of 0.5 dm3/min, the film growth rate is around 100 nm/min. We present a thorough analysis of the film growth parameters and the subsequent morphology, composition, and structural and optical properties of the deposited thin films.
interest in both academic and industrial landscapes for a wide range of applications, including image sensing, [8] optical communication, [9] environmental monitoring, and biomedical applications. [10,11] New emerging applications require selfpowered, cost-effective, highly sensitive, and flexible devices. [12][13][14] These conditions can be fully satisfied using PDs based on perovskite active layers, which combine high ambipolar charge carrier mobility [6,15] with long carrier diffusion length, [16,17] effective light absorption, [18] high defect tolerance [19,20] and low-cost solution processability, [21] making them suitable candidates for high-performance PDs.The route to obtain highly sensitive sensors requires minimizing dark current (J d ) values, which limits the noise (i n ) in devices and maximizes light conversion. To date, few methods exist to reduce the dark current in PDs. They are based on the use of charge-blocking layers to minimize charge injection. [22,23] Other strategies are related to inclusion of additives [24,25] or controlling film crystallization [26,27] to minimize backward charge injection at the electrodes. However, there is a deficit of efforts focused on understanding the role of perovskite composition and its correlation to device J d . Tuning halide composition in perovskites isa powerful approach demonstrated to enhance the performance of perovskite photovoltaic devices where such compositional modifications drive improvements in open-circuit voltage (V oc ) and a reduction in nonradiative voltage losses. Similarly, photodetectors (PDs) operate as light to current conversion devices hence it is relevant to investigate whether performance enhancements can be achieved by similar strategies. Herein, perovskite PDs are fabricated with an inverted photodiode configuration based on a MAPb(I 1-x Br x ) 3 perovskite (MA = methylammonium) active layer over the x = 0-0.25 composition range. Interestingly, it has been found that increasing the Br content up to 0.15 (15%) leads to a significant reduction in dark current (J d ), with values as low as 1.3 × 10 −9 A cm -2 being achieved alongside a specific detectivity of 8.7 × 10 12 Jones. Significantly, it has been observed an exponential relationship between the J d of devices and their V oc over the 0-15% Br range. The superior performances of the 15% Br-containing devices are attributed to the reduction of trap states, a better charge extraction of photogenerated carriers, and an improvement in photoactive layer morphology and crystallinity.
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