Enabling Double Perovskite Solar Cells

混合金属卤化物钙钛矿材料结合了低成本元素和简单的溶液沉积，即印刷；以及类似于主流多晶硅光伏的极高性能。此外，这种材料的性能与工业黄金标准半导体砷化镓相似，使其成为一个非常有吸引力的研究领域，在全球范围内有数千名研究人员活跃。然而，在该技术商业化之前，需要克服一些挑战：需要解决稳定性和毒性问题。以前试图取代结构中的铅原子的结果要么是不太稳定的体系(锡)，要么是高度扭曲的材料结构(铋、铜等)。这表现出非常低的材料性能，并因此降低了器件效率。这项提议旨在通过开发基于与最先进材料相关的结构的新材料来应对这些挑战：双钙钛矿结构。在这里，铅原子被替代为无毒的替代品，这些替代品是空气稳定的元素，可以从溶液中加工。第一个赠款项目的具体目标是开发一种新的薄膜沉积技术，使这种类型的新材料能够融入到功能器件中。该项目的成功完成预计将使世界各地的研究人员能够瞄准一系列全新的钙钛矿材料，不仅用于太阳能转换，还用于照明应用。

Hybrid metal halide perovskite materials combine low-cost elements with simple solution deposition, i.e. printing; and extremely high performance, similar to mainstream polycrystalline silicon photovoltaics. The materials properties are additionally similar to industry gold standard semiconductor GaAs, making them a very attractive field of research with thousands of researchers active worldwide. However, some challenges need to be overcome before commercialization of the technology can occur: stability and toxicity concerns need to be addressed. Previous attempts to replace the lead atoms in the structure have either resulted in less stable systems (Sn), or highly distorted material structures (Bi, Cu, etc.) which show very reduced materials properties and consequently low device efficiencies. This proposal seeks to address these challenges by developing new materials based on a structure related to the state-of-the-art materials: the double perovskite structure. Here, the lead atoms are replaced by alternating non-toxic alternatives which are air stable elements and can be processed from solution. Specific objectives in this First Grant Project are to develop a novel thin film deposition technique which will allow the incorporation of this type of new materials into functional devices. The successful completion of the project is expected to enable researchers world-wide to target a whole new range of perovskite materials not just for solar energy conversion but also for lighting applications.