Probing Metal Oxide Surfaces for Stable and Efficient Perovskite Devices

With the rapid advance of metal halide perovskites, refining other materials that comprise a perovskite optoelectronic device becomes all the more urgent. Metal oxides are especially important in such devices, as their favorable charge transport properties and superior stability render them ideal charge transport layers. However, interfacing materials naturally adds another level of complexity to the device, which requires careful characterization and optimization. Here, several studies of metal oxide surfaces will be presented, which using a combination of density functional theory calculations with experimental characterizations aim to understand and improve the oxide interface with perovskites. A variety of topics will be covered, including the reactivity of certain oxide surfaces with perovskite precursors [1], the electronic level alignment at interfaces [2] and the passivation of interfaces with molecular engineering [3]. The atomistic insights obtained from these studies provide important basis for further optimizing the performance of these perovskite devices.<br/> <br/>[1] Sofia Apergi, Christine Koch, Geert Brocks, Selina Olthof, and Shuxia Tao, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX<br/>[2] S. Apergi, G. Brocks, S. Tao, Physical Review Materials, 4, 085403 (2020)<br/>[3] Jiali Zhang, Renjie Li, Sofia Apergi, Pengyang Wang, Biao Shi, Junke Jiang, Ningyu Ren, Wei Han, Qian Huang, Geert Brocks, Ying Zhao, Shuxia Tao, Xiaodan Zhang, Solar RRL, 5, 2100464 (2021)