Synergic Electron and Defect Compensation Minimizes Voltage Loss in Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cells

Sn perovskite solar cells have been regarded as one of the most promising alternatives to the Pb-based counterparts due to their low toxicity and excellent optoelectronic properties. However, the Sn perovskites are notorious to feature heavy p-doping characteristics and possess abundant vacancy defects, which result in under-optimized interfacial energy level alignment and severe nonradiative recombination. Here, we reported a synergic electron and defect compensation strategy to simultaneously modulate the electronic structures and defect profiles of Sn perovskites via incorporating a traced amount (0.1 mol%) of heterovalent metal halide salts. Consequently, the doping level of modified Sn perovskites was altered from heavy p-type to weak p-type (i.e. up-shifting the Fermi level by similar to 0.12 eV) that determinately reducing the barrier of interfacial charge extraction and effectively suppressing the charge recombination loss throughout the bulk perovskite film and at relevant interfaces. Pioneeringly, the resultant device modified with electron and defect compensation realized a champion efficiency of 14.02%, which is similar to 46% higher than that of control device (9.56%). Notably, a record-high photovoltage of 1.013 V was attained, corresponding to the lowest voltage deficit of 0.38 eV reported to date, and narrowing the gap with Pb-based analogues (similar to 0.30 V).

Automated summary

In this study, a synergic electron and defect compensation strategy was utilized to modulate the electronic structures and defect profiles of Sn perovskites by incorporating heterovalent metal halide salts. The modified Sn perovskites exhibited improved conductivity and reduced charge recombination loss, leading to a champion efficiency of 14.02% and a record-high photovoltage of 1.013 V. These results narrow the gap between Sn perovskite solar cells and Pb-based counterparts.