Post-treatment of CsPbI3 nanocrystals by p-iodo-D-Phenylalanine for efficient perovskite LEDs

Materials Today Physics Elsevier BV 21 (2021) 100555

Authors:

Chengyuan Tang, Xinyu Shen, Siyao Yu, Yuan Zhong, Zhenyu Wang, Junhua Hu, Min Lu, Zhennan Wu, Yu Zhang, William W Yu, Xue Bai

Interplay of structure, charge-carrier localization and dynamics in copper-silver-bismuth-halide semiconductors

Advanced Functional Materials Wiley 32:6 (2021) 2108392

Authors:

Leonardo RV Buizza, Harry C Sansom, Adam D Wright, Aleksander M Ulatowski, Michael B Johnston, Laura M Herz, Henry J Snaith

Abstract:

Silver-bismuth based semiconductors represent a promising new class of materials for optoelectronic applications because of their high stability, all-inorganic composition, and advantageous optoelectronic properties. In this study, charge-carrier dynamics and transport properties are investigated across five compositions along the AgBiI4–CuI solid solution line (stoichiometry Cu4x(AgBi)1−xI4). The presence of a close-packed iodide sublattice is found to provide a good backbone for general semiconducting properties across all of these materials, whose optoelectronic properties are found to improve markedly with increasing copper content, which enhances photoluminescence intensity and charge-carrier transport. Photoluminescence and photoexcitation-energy-dependent terahertz photoconductivity measurements reveal that this enhanced charge-carrier transport derives from reduced cation disorder and improved electronic connectivity owing to the presence of Cu+. Further, increased Cu+ content enhances the band curvature around the valence band maximum, resulting in lower charge-carrier effective masses, reduced exciton binding energies, and higher mobilities. Finally, ultrafast charge-carrier localization is observed upon pulsed photoexcitation across all compositions investigated, lowering the charge-carrier mobility and leading to Langevin-like bimolecular recombination. This process is concluded to be intrinsically linked to the presence of silver and bismuth, and strategies to tailor or mitigate the effect are proposed and discussed.

Optimizing the Performance of Perovskite Nanocrystal LEDs Utilizing Cobalt Doping on a ZnO Electron Transport Layer.

The journal of physical chemistry letters 12:41 (2021) 10112-10119

Authors:

Chengyuan Tang, Xinyu Shen, Xiufeng Wu, Yuan Zhong, Junhua Hu, Min Lu, Zhennan Wu, Yu Zhang, William W Yu, Xue Bai

Abstract:

Metal halide perovskite nanocrystal (PNC) light-emitting devices (LEDs) are promising in the future ultra-high-definition display applications due to their tunable bandgap and high color purity. Balanced carrier injection is indispensable for realizing highly efficient LEDs. Herein, cobalt (Co) was doped into ZnO to modulate the electron mobility of a pristine electron transport layer (ETL) and to inhibit exciton quenching at the ZnO/EML interface due to the passivation of oxygen vacancies and the reduction of electron concentration resulting from the trapping of electrons by the Co2+-induced deep impurity level. Also, the bandgap was widened due to the size confinement effect. All of those were beneficial to achieve a balanced charge injection during the operating process. Consequently, the maximum luminance increased from 867 cd m-2 for ZnO LEDs to 1858 cd m-2 for Co-doped ZnO LEDs, and there was a 70% increase of external quantum efficiency (EQE). By further inserting a polyethylenimine (PEI) layer in the Co-doped ZnO LEDs, the EQE reached 13.0%.

Band engineering of nickel oxide interfaces and connection between absolute valence energy alignment and surface dipoles in halide perovskite heterostructures

Fundacio Scito (2021)

Authors:

Boubacar Traore, Jacky Even, Laurent Pedesseau, Alexandra Ramadan, Jean-Christophe Blancon, Pooja Basera, Aditya Mohite, Henry Snaith, Mikael Kepenekian, Claudine Katan, Sergei Tretiak

Identification of lead vacancy defects in lead halide perovskites

Nature Communications Nature Research 12:1 (2021) 5566

Authors:

David J Keeble, Julia Wiktor, Sandeep K Pathak, Laurie J Phillips, Marcel Dickmann, Ken Durose, Henry J Snaith, Werner Egger

Abstract:

Perovskite photovoltaics advance rapidly, but questions remain regarding point defects: while experiments have detected the presence of electrically active defects no experimentally confirmed microscopic identifications have been reported. Here we identify lead monovacancy (VPb) defects in MAPbI3 (MA = CH3NH3+) using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy with the aid of density functional theory. Experiments on thin film and single crystal samples all exhibited dominant positron trapping to lead vacancy defects, and a minimum defect density of ~3 7 1015 cm−3 was determined. There was also evidence of trapping at the vacancy complex (VPbVI)− in a minority of samples, but no trapping to MA-ion vacancies was observed. Our experimental results support the predictions of other first-principles studies that deep level, hole trapping, VPb2−, point defects are one of the most stable defects in MAPbI3. This direct detection and identification of a deep level native defect in a halide perovskite, at technologically relevant concentrations, will enable further investigation of defect driven mechanisms