Enhanced photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells modified with plasmonic Cu1.44Te nanocrystals

Abstract

Copper telluride nanocrystals (NCs) have gained increasing interest owing to their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) relying on copper vacancies in the near-infrared (NIR) region. In this study, uniform Cu1.44Te NCs exhibiting strong LSPR absorption in the NIR region were successfully fabricated by a hot injection-like method. These NCs were successfully embedded into the organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The introduction of Cu1.44Te NCs dramatically increased the short-circuit photocurrent density from 20.70 mA/cm2 for control device to 22.30 mA/cm2 for champion device, indicating 7.7% improvement. The open-circuit voltage and fill factor also exhibited a slight increase, resulting in an improved power conversion efficiency of the PSCs. The improved performance of the devices was attributed to the significant enhancement of visible and NIR photon absorption in the perovskite films incorporating Cu1.44Te NCs. Moreover, the NIR photon absorption enhancement was confirmed through the electrical field distribution by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. Our work indicated that non-noble metal copper telluride NCs with plasmonic effects could increase the performance of PSCs, providing a new strategy to improve the performance of photovoltaic devices.