Publication date: 17th July 2025
Ensuring high performance and long-term stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is essential for their transition to large-scale industrial deployment. However, device-level quality of PSCs is often limited by microscopic inhomogeneities within the active perovskite layer - such as local variations in composition, structure, and optoelectronic response - which can adversely affect both device performance and stability.
Identifying and understanding these local defects is critical for improving device reliability. Given the complex composition and polycrystalline nature of perovskite materials, imaging techniques with high spatial resolutions are essential for identifying and characterizing such local variations [1,2].
In this talk, I will discuss how advanced imaging and spectroscopic techniques - ranging from ultraviolet photoemission to infrared scanning probe microscopies - can shed light on the microscopic origins of performance losses and degradation in PSCs. These insights provide a deeper understanding of the detrimental roles of microscopic inhomogeneities in shaping macroscopic device behavior of PSCs, informing strategies to improve their performance and stability.