Phys.org June 24, 2024
Perovskite photovoltaics have been shown to recover, or heal, after radiation damage. A team of researchers in the US (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Rochester Institute of Technology, North Texas University, University of North Carolina, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, University of Oklahoma, University of Buffalo) deconvolved the effects of radiation based on different energy loss mechanisms from incident protons which induce defects or can promote efficiency recovery. They designed a dual dose experiment first exposed devices to low-energy protons efficient in creating atomic displacements and then irradiated with high-energy protons that interacted differently. Correlated with modeling, high-energy protons effectively annealed the initial radiation damage, and recovered the device efficiency, thus directly detailing the different interactions of irradiation. They related the differences to the energy loss using simulation. Dual dose experiments provided insight into understanding the radiation response of perovskite solar cells and highlighted that radiation-matter interactions in soft lattice materials are distinct from conventional semiconductors. According to the researchers their results present electronic ionization as a unique handle to remedying defects and trap states in perovskites… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Dual dose irradiation experiments. Credit: Nature Communications volume 15, Article number: 696, January 24, 2024