Highly Reproducible Sn-Based Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells with 9% Efficiency

The low power conversion efficiency (PCE) of tin-based hybrid perovskite solar cells (HPSCs) is mainly attributed to the high background carrier density due to a high density of intrinsic defects such as Sn vacancies and oxidized species (Sn4+) that characterize Sn-based HPSCs. Herein, this study reports on the successful reduction of the background carrier density by more than one order of magnitude by depositing near-single-crystalline formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI(3)) films with the orthorhombic a-axis in the out-of-plane direction. Using these highly crystalline films, obtained by mixing a very small amount (0.08 m) of layered (2D) Sn perovskite with 0.92 m (3D) FASnI(3), for the first time a PCE as high as 9.0% in a planar p-i-n device structure is achieved. These devices display negligible hysteresis and light soaking, as they benefit from very low trap-assisted recombination, low shunt losses, and more efficient charge collection. This represents a 50% improvement in PCE compared to the best reference cell based on a pure FASnI(3) film using SnF2 as a reducing agent. Moreover, the 2D/3D-based HPSCs show considerable improved stability due to the enhanced robustness of the perovskite film compared to the reference cell.