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CsCl seed layer homogenizes co-evaporated perovskite growth for high-efficiency fully textured perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells
Authors:
Viktor Škorjanc,
Stefanie Severin,
Alexander Veber,
Mauricio J. Prieto,
Liviu C. Tănase,
Aleksandra Miaskiewicz,
Sebastian Weitz,
Jing-Wen Hsueh,
Mohamad-Assaad Mawass,
Lucas de Souza Caldas,
Suresh Manyarasu,
Philippe Holzhey,
Erik Wutke,
Stepan Demchyshyn,
Matthew R. Leyden,
Angelika Harter,
Roberto Felix Duarte,
Jona Kurpiers,
Philipp Wagner,
Bernd Stannovski,
Ljiljana Puskar,
Roland Mainz,
Daniel Abou-Ras,
Thomas Schmidt,
Lars Korte
, et al. (2 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells experienced a significant increase in efficiency, making them viable for industrial applications. Among the various scalable and industry-compatible metal halide perovskite deposition techniques, co-evaporation stands out as particularly well-suited for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells due to its ability to conformally cover textured silicon bo…
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Monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells experienced a significant increase in efficiency, making them viable for industrial applications. Among the various scalable and industry-compatible metal halide perovskite deposition techniques, co-evaporation stands out as particularly well-suited for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells due to its ability to conformally cover textured silicon bottom cells. Solution-processed [2-(3,6-Dimethoxy-9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid (MeO-2PACz) is commonly used as a hole-transporting material for co-evaporated metal halide perovskites. However, we show that it covers the textured surface of silicon bottom cells unevenly, impacting the film growth and leading to the formation of residual PbI2 at the buried interface. The present study reveals via X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM) and infrared scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (IR s-SNOM) that a CsCl seed layer fosters organic precursor incorporation across the MeO-2PACz/perovskite interface, even in the areas with a thin MeO-2PACz layer, thereby preventing the formation of interfacial PbI2 and leading to larger apparent grains. The improvement of the metal halide perovskite film quality on the MeO-2PACz/perovskite interface and the bulk perovskite film led to 30.3% (29.7% certified) efficient perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell. The present work highlights the importance of a seed layer for a robust growth of co-evaporated metal halide perovskite and represents an important milestone for the transfer of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells from laboratory to industry.
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Submitted 28 November, 2025;
originally announced November 2025.
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Monitoring charge separation of individual cells in perovskite/silicon tandems via transient surface photovoltage spectroscopy
Authors:
Maxim Simmonds,
Ke Xu,
Steve Albrecht,
Lars Korte,
Igal Levine
Abstract:
Identification of charge carrier separation processes in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells and recombination at buried interfaces of charge selective contacts is crucial for photovoltaic research. Here, intensity- and wavelength- dependent transient surface photovoltage (tr-SPV) is used to investigate slot-die-coated perovskite top layers deposited on n-type Heterojunction Silicon bottom cells…
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Identification of charge carrier separation processes in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells and recombination at buried interfaces of charge selective contacts is crucial for photovoltaic research. Here, intensity- and wavelength- dependent transient surface photovoltage (tr-SPV) is used to investigate slot-die-coated perovskite top layers deposited on n-type Heterojunction Silicon bottom cells. We show that using an appropriate combination of photon energy and/or bottom cell polarity, one can individually probe the buried interfaces of the bottom silicon cell or the perovskite`s buried interfaces of a tandem solar cell: For excitation with higher energy photons, time delays before the onset of a strong SPV signal indicate significant hole minority drift before separation in the silicon bottom cells. Furthermore, symmetric bottom Si heterojunction solar cell stacks can serve to investigate the top perovskite stack including its junction to the bottom cell, unhampered by photovoltages from the silicon substrate. Thus, investigation of the buried interfaces in tandem devices using time-resolved surface photovoltage is found to yield valuable information on charge carrier extraction at buried interfaces and demonstrates its unique potential compared to more conventional approaches that rely on photoluminescence decay kinetics.
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Submitted 25 April, 2025;
originally announced April 2025.
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Imaging of bandtail states in silicon heterojunction solar cells
Authors:
M. Y. Teferi,
H. Malissa,
A. B. Morales-Vilches,
C. T. Trinh,
L. Korte,
B. Stannowski,
C. C. Williams,
C. Boehme,
K. Lips
Abstract:
Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells represent a promising technological approach towards higher photovoltaics efficiencies and lower fabrication cost. While the device physics of SHJ solar cells have been studied extensively in the past, the ways in which nanoscopic electronic processes such as charge-carrier generation, recombination, trapping, and percolation affect SHJ device properties ma…
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Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells represent a promising technological approach towards higher photovoltaics efficiencies and lower fabrication cost. While the device physics of SHJ solar cells have been studied extensively in the past, the ways in which nanoscopic electronic processes such as charge-carrier generation, recombination, trapping, and percolation affect SHJ device properties macroscopically have yet to be fully understood. We report the study of atomic scale current percolation at state-of-the-art a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells under ambient operating conditions, revealing the profound complexity of electronic SHJ interface processes. Using conduction atomic force microscopy (cAFM), it is shown that the macroscopic current-voltage characteristics of SHJ solar cells is governed by the average of local nanometer-sized percolation pathways associated with bandtail states of the doped a-Si:H selective contact leading to above bandgap open circuit voltages ($V_{\mbox{OC}}$) as high as 1.2 V ($V_{\mbox{OC}}>e E_{\mbox{gap}}^{\mbox{Si}}$). This is not in violation of photovoltaic device physics but a consequence of the nature of nanometer-scale charge percolation pathways which originate from trap-assisted tunneling causing dark leakage current. We show that the broad distribution of local photovoltage is a direct consequence of randomly trapped charges at a-Si:H dangling bond defects which lead to strong local potential fluctuations and induce random telegraph noise of the dark current.
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Submitted 26 August, 2020;
originally announced August 2020.
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Transient Analysis during Maximum Power Point Tracking (TrAMPPT) to Assess Dynamic Response of Perovskite Solar Cells
Authors:
Aniela Czudek,
Katrin Hirselandt,
Lukas Kegelmann,
Amran Al-Ashouri,
Marko Jošt,
Weiwei Zuo,
Antonio Abate,
Lars Korte,
Steve Albrecht,
Janardan Dagar,
Eva L. Unger
Abstract:
Determination of the device performance parameters of perovskite solar cells is far from trivial as transient effects may cause large discrepancies in current-voltage measurements as a function of scan rate and pre-conditioning. Maximum power point tracking, MPPT, enables to determine the steady-state maximum power conversion efficiency. However, the MPPT does not provide any information on the de…
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Determination of the device performance parameters of perovskite solar cells is far from trivial as transient effects may cause large discrepancies in current-voltage measurements as a function of scan rate and pre-conditioning. Maximum power point tracking, MPPT, enables to determine the steady-state maximum power conversion efficiency. However, the MPPT does not provide any information on the device performance parameters, which are reliable only if extracted from current-voltage curves collected under steady-state conditions. We show that is possible to determine the shorter settling or delay time suitable to carry out J-V measurements under steady-state conditions by analysis of the transient device response around the MPP. This procedure proves to be more time-efficient than measurement J-V measurements at a variety of scan rates. Furthermore, the generic algorithm presented here can be implemented to assess changes in the dynamic response of devices during long-term device ageing.
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Submitted 12 June, 2019;
originally announced June 2019.