The influence of the interface layer between the electron transport layer and absorber on the performance of perovskite solar cells

Abstract

High efficiency, lightweight, and cost-effectiveness put the perovskite solar cells to the top of the focus researches of solar cells. The architecture of the cell especially the energy band alignment at the interface is a critical issue in the cell performance. In the current paper, the solar cell structure under investigation consists of TiO2, CH3NH3PbI3, and Spiro OMe TAD as electron transport layer, absorber and hole transport layer respectively. A 3C-SiC material with energy gap of 2.420 eV was used as interface layer. The role of the interface layer between the perovskite and electron transport layer was considered. Before inserting the interface layer, a parametric study including the thickness and doping of each layer, was achieved. The results showed that the best performance of the cell at a thickness of 400 nm, 300 nm, 200 nm for absorber layer, ETL, and HTL respectively, with a doping concentration of 1014 cm-3, 1019 cm-3, 1019 cm-3 for the same layers. These parameters give a Voc, Jsc, FF, and PCE of 1.11 V, 28.9 mA·cm-2, 83.19%, and 26.88% respectively. Inserting an interface layer improved the performance of the cell where the PCE increased over 29% at a thickness of 90 nm. The results showed that the parameters of the interface layer play a significant role in cell performance.