Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Single Crystals: A Next Wave of Materials for 25% Efficiency Photovoltaics and Applications Beyond?

Hybrid perovskite single crystals have been recently revealed to have superior optoelectronic properties to perovskite polycrystalline thin films, especially the extraordinarily long carrier diffusion length due to the eliminated grain boundaries. One question that naturally arises is whether the single crystal hybrid perovskites can be a next wave of photoactive materials for even higher-efficiency devices. This Perspective presents an overview of the historic evolution in understanding of carrier diffusion length in CH3NH3PbI3, the initial investigations of the synthesis of single crystalline hybrid perovskites, and the characterization of their optoelectronic properties. Our analysis indicates that single crystalline perovskite materials have potential to further boost photovoltaic device power conversion efficiency to 25%. The potential opportunities for the fundamental study of the perovskite intrinsic properties, particularly the carrier mobility and carrier recombination lifetime, and other fields such as radiation detectors are also briefed.