Alleviating hysteresis and improving device stability of perovskite solar cells via alternate voltage sweeps**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11474105 and 51172079), the Science and Technology Program of Guangdong Province, China (Grant Nos. 2015B090903078 and 2015B010105011), the Science and Technology Project of Guangzhou City, China (Grant No. 201607010246), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars

Abstract

The anomalous hysteresis in a perovskite solar cell induced by an asymmetric field is confirmed by a capacitance–voltage measurement. By applying several cycles of alternating reverse and forward scans, this hysteresis phenomenon is obviously alleviated, resulting in a hysteresis-less state in the perovskite solar cell. Meanwhile, the open-circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency of the perovskite solar cell are enhanced by 55.74% and 61.30%, respectively, while the current density and fill factor keep almost invariable. The operation of alleviating hysteresis is essential for further research and is likely to bring in performance gains.