Proceedings of Online Meetup: Origins of Electronic Defects in Halide Perovskites (EDHP)
Publication date: 1st April 2020
Here, first I will summarize our understanding of the nature of defects and their photo-chemistry, which leverages on the cooperative action of density functional theory investigations and accurate experimental design. Then, I will show the correlation between the nature of defects and the observed semiconductor instabilities. We identify photo-instabilities related to competing light-induced formation and annihilation of trap states, disclosing their characteristic length and time scales and the factors responsible for both processes. We show that short range/short time defect annihilation can prevail over defect formation, happening on longer scales, when effectively blocking undercoordinated surface sites, which act as a defect reservoir. Finally, based on such knowledge, I will discuss different synthetic and passivation strategies which are able to stabilize the perovskite layer towards such photo-induced instabilities, leading to improved optoelectronic material quality and enhanced photo-stability in a working solar cell.