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Confined Growth of High-quality Single-Crystal MAPbBr3 by Inverse Temperature Crystallization for Photovoltaic Applications

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Abstract

Organic–inorganic hybrid halide perovskite solar cells are promising for next-generation thin-film solar cells, demonstrating power conversion efficiency exceeding 25%. In particular, single-crystal perovskite materials are estimated to possess superior optoelectronic properties that can further enhance the efficiency. However, fabricating thin single-crystal perovskite for a light-absorber layer remains challenging. In this study, a 40-µm-thick single-crystalline MAPbBr3 perovskite is fabricated by inverse temperature crystallization (ITC) with a selective seed-transfer technique. By using a separate seed growth process and a seed-transfer process, a 16.23-mm2-large single domain high-quality single-crystalline MAPbBr3 perovskite can be grown without additional nucleation. The grown single-crystal MAPbBr3 exhibits a low surface roughness of 0.51 nm and low trap density of 7.61 × 108 cm−3. We also fabricate solar cells with single-crystalline MAPbBr3 using a glass substrate coated with SnO2 and indium-tin-oxide thin films. The single-crystal MAPbBr3-based solar cells demonstrate a power conversion efficiency of 4.31%.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Institute of Advanced Machines and Design at Seoul National University (SNU), the Institute of Engineering Research at SNU, and the Research Institute of Advanced Materials at SNU.

Funding

Korea Electric Power Corporation (Grant No.: R19XO01-13) and National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant No. NRF-2018M1A3A3A02065688).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea

    Taehoon Kim, Young Ho Chu, Jieun Lee, Seong Ho Cho, Seongheon Kim, Hyunjoon Lee, Changhyun Lim & Yun Seog Lee

  2. Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea

    Kijoon Bang & Yun Seog Lee

  3. Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea

    Yun Seog Lee

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  1. Taehoon Kim
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Correspondence to Yun Seog Lee.

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Kim, T., Chu, Y.H., Lee, J. et al. Confined Growth of High-quality Single-Crystal MAPbBr3 by Inverse Temperature Crystallization for Photovoltaic Applications. Electron. Mater. Lett. 17, 347–354 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-021-00288-7

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