Assessment Of Photon Recycling In Perovskite Solar Cells By Fully Coupled Optoelectronic Simulation

Simon Zeder^a^,^b, Antonio Cabas Vidani^a, Beat Ruhstaller^a^,^c, Urs Aeberhard^a^,^d

^aFluxim AG, 8400 Winterthur, Switzerland

^bEPFL – PV-LAB, Institute of Microengineering, 2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland

^cZurich University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Computational Physics, Technikumstrasse 9, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland

^dETH Zürich, Integrated Systems Laboratory, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV22)

València, Spain, 2022 May 19th - 25th

Organizers: Pablo Docampo, Eva Unger and Elizabeth Gibson

Oral, Antonio Cabas Vidani, presentation 086
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.hopv.2022.086
Publication date: 20th April 2022

Hybrid metal-halide perovskite materials are ideally suited for photovoltaic energy conversion thanks to the strong optical absorption and remarkably low non-radiative recombination which allows perovskite solar cell devices to operate close to the radiative limit[1]. In addition, these materials feature a sharp absorption edge[2] with a pronounced overlap of absorption and intrinsic emission spectra. All these properties together lead to non-negligible photon recycling effects[3], [4], with a positive influence on device performance, such as an increase in open-circuit voltage[5].

In order to predict such photon recycling effects it is crucial to rigorously model the coupled optical and electronic processes in realistic thin-film device architectures. While the electronic transport processes are described using a well-established drift-diffusion algorithm including the effects of mobile ions[6], [7] implemented in the simulation software SETFOS, the optical absorption and emission rates are modeled using novel general expressions based on the photonic Green’s function theory in multilayer structures[8], [9].

The optical model provides the local reabsorption rate as well as a detailed-balance compatible radiative prefactor which are used in the electronic model to achieve a self-consistent solution that yields the full optoelectronic device characteristics.

Applying our model to a full methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) solar cell stack, we are now able for the first time to simulate the full JV curve with and without photon recycling taken into account. A clear VOC enhancement of ∼35 mV is visible when reabsorption is considered. In case of an ideal structure of a pure MAPI absorber with ideally selective contacts, this enhancement increases to ∼55 mV, which is close to the estimate based on pure optical considerations.

The global efficiency of photon recycling is quantified by defining quantum efficiencies of reabsorbed radiation, while the local efficiency can furthermore be quantified by defining an effective local radiative prefactor. The model introduced here can be used to guide the design of future devices that exploit the full potential of photon recycling.

References:

[1] Braly, I. L.; deQuilettes, D. W.; Pazos-Outón, L M.; Burke, S.; Ziffer, M. E.; Ginger, D. S.; Hillhouse, H. W. Hybrid perovskite films approaching the radiative limit with over 90% photoluminescence quantum efficiency. Nat. Photonics 2018, 12, 355–361.

[2] De Wolf, S.; Holovsky, J.; Moo, Soo-Jin; Löper, P.; Niesen, B. Organometallic Halide Perovskites: Sharp Optical Absorption Edge and Its Relation to Photovoltaic Performance. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 1035–1039.

[3] Pazos-Outón, L. M.; Szumilo, M.; Lamboll, R.; Richter, J. M.; Crespo-Quesada, M.; Abdi-Jalebi, M.; Beeson, H. J.; Vrućinić, M.; Alsari, M.; Snaith, H. J.; Ehrler, B.; Friend, R. H.; Deschler, F. Photon recycling in lead iodide perovskite solar cells. Science (80-. ). 2016, 351, 1430–1433.

[4] Richter, J. M.; Abdi-Jalebi, M.; Sadhanala, A.; Tabachnyk, M.; Rivett, J. P. H.; Pazos-Outón, L. M.;, Gödel, K. C.; Price, M.; Deschler, F.; Friend, R. H. Enhancing photoluminescence yields in lead halide perovskites by photon recycling and light out-coupling. Nat. Commun. 2016, 7.

[5] Kirchartz, T.; Staub, F.; Rau, U. Impact of Photon Recycling on the Open-Circuit Voltage of Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells. ACS Energy Lett. 2016, 1, 731–739.

[6] Häusermann, R.; Knapp, E.; Moos, M.; Reinke, N. A.; Flatz, T.; Ruhstaller, B. Coupled optoelectronic simulation of organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells: Parameter extraction and sensitivity analysis. J. Appl. Phys. 2009, 106.

[7] Neukom, M. T.; Schiller, A.; Züfle, S.; Knapp, E.; Ávila, J.; Pérez-del-Rey, D.; Dreessen, C.; Zanoni, K. P. S.; Sessolo, M.; Bolink, H. J.; Ruhstaller, B. Consistent Device Simulation Model Describing Perovskite Solar Cells in Steady-State, Transient, and Frequency Domain. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 23320–23328.

[8] Aeberhard, U., Zeder, S.; Ruhstaller, B. Reconciliation of dipole emission with detailed balance rates for the simulation of luminescence and photon recycling in perovskite solar cells. Opt. Express 2021, 29, 14773.

[9] Zeder, S., Ruhstaller, B.; Aeberhard, U. Assessment of Photon Recycling in Perovskite Solar Cells by Fully Coupled Optoelectronic Simulation. Phys. Rev. Appl. 2022, 17, 1.

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