Photo-response of Two-Dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Films for Photovoltaics

¹ State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, P. R. China
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Novel Thin-Film Solar Cells, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, P. R. China

^* Corresponding author: molangcai@ncepu.edu.cn, sydai@ncepu.edu.cn

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) perovskites have emerged as a prospective candidate to address the instability issues of traditional perovskite solar cells. However, the mechanisms of charge carrier transport of 2D perovskite films obtained by the solution process still remain elusive. In this work, we proposed a novel characterization technique based on the Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) to investigate the micro-scale morphology and surface potential (SP) of the BA₂MA₃Pb₄I₁₃ films. In additionally, a Xenon laser source was adopted to realize the in-situ scanning of the light response of the perovskite film. The obvious increase in surface potential values in the same scanning area before and after white light illumination indicated the emergence of photo-generated charge carriers. Based on the unique photophysical properties and form formation features of the hot-cast BA₂MA₃Pb₄I₁₃ films, we fabricated the 2D perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with an efficiency of 10.95%. As a result, the in-situ KPFM is capable to serve as an effective approach to investigating the charge carrier behaviors in the 2D perovskites for photovoltaic applications.