Eco-friendly methyl-ammonium tin-based planar p–n homojunction Perovskite solar cells: Design and performance estimation

Abstract

In this study, the design and performance estimation of tin (Sn)-based planar [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] homojunction perovskite solar cell (PSC) have been carried out. Here, the effect of maintaining the intrinsic active layer thickness and replacing the intrinsic active perovskite [Formula: see text]-layer of a standard [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] structure of lead (Pb)-free PSCs with a [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] homojunction is fully investigated. When the active layer is divided into a [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] junction layer, it increases the photo-generated electrons and holes efficiency due to the built-in electric field of the junction. Furthermore, in order to get a better insight, the effects of various technological and device dimensional parameters on the performance of the reported PSC have been studied. It has been reported that the thickness of the p-side with methyl-ammonium tin triiodide (MASnI[Formula: see text] layer must be greater than the n-side of the MASnI3 layer. Meanwhile, its acceptors concentration should be slightly lower than the donors’ concentration on the n-side of MASnI3 layer to achieve maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE). Using the optimized parameters, our design demonstrates an open-circuit voltage ([Formula: see text] of 0.89 V, short-circuit current density ([Formula: see text] of 32.36 mA/cm2, fill factor (FF) of 74.40%, and PCE of 21.46%. This advocates the huge potential and great opportunities for deploying these Pb-free PSCs for eco-friendly photovoltaic applications.