Evidence for ion migration in hybrid perovskite solar cells with minimal hysteresis

TLDR: Transient optoelectronic measurements combined with device simulations indicate that electric-field screening, consistent with ion migration, is similar in both high and low hysteresis CH3NH3PbI3 cells.

Abstract: Ion migration has been proposed as a possible cause of photovoltaic current–voltage hysteresis in hybrid perovskite solar cells. A major objection to this hypothesis is that hysteresis can be reduced by changing the interfacial contact materials; however, this is unlikely to significantly influence the behaviour of mobile ionic charge within the perovskite phase. Here, we show that the primary effects of ion migration can be observed regardless of whether the contacts were changed to give devices with or without significant hysteresis. Transient optoelectronic measurements combined with device simulations indicate that electric-field screening, consistent with ion migration, is similar in both high and low hysteresis CH3NH3PbI3 cells. Simulation of the photovoltage and photocurrent transients shows that hysteresis requires the combination of both mobile ionic charge and recombination near the perovskite-contact interfaces. Passivating contact recombination results in higher photogenerated charge concentrations at forward bias which screen the ionic charge, reducing hysteresis. Ion migration has been related to hysteresis in perovskite solar cells, but not all perovskite cells exhibit a hysteresis. Here, Caladoet al. show that ion migration occurs regardless of hysteresis, but photogenerated carriers screen the effects of ionic charge for some solar cell architectures.