Can Redox Processes Explain What’s Really Going on Inside a Halide Perovskite Device?
Barry P. Rand a
a Princeton University, Dept. Electrical Engineering, Princeton , 8540, United States
Proceedings of Perovskite Semiconductors: From Fundamental Properties to Devices (PerFunPro)
Konstanz, Germany, 2025 September 8th - 10th
Organizers: Lukas Schmidt-Mende, Vladimir Dyakonov and Selina Olthof
Invited Speaker, Barry P. Rand, presentation 051
Publication date: 16th July 2025

Metal halide perovskite semiconductors have captured significant interest in the thin-film optoelectronics community, with impressive performance demonstrated in both solar cells and light-emitting devices. But when it comes to explaining behavior that defies conventional semiconductor physics, we often fall back on the catch-all term “ion migration.”

To make real progress in understanding device operation and degradation, we need to look more closely at what happens at the interfaces between halide perovskites and other materials. Our work shows that these materials exhibit not just mixed ionic-electronic transport, but also significant chemical reactivity — including redox (electron transfer) and acid-base (proton transfer) reactions. These processes contribute to phenomena such as metal contact corrosion, ITO etching, iodine diffusion into hole transport layers, halide phase segregation, and even gold migration.

By bringing together insights from both semiconductor device physics and electrochemistry, we can move beyond the limitations of “ion migration” and toward a more complete understanding of these materials.

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