Nonradiative Losses in Metal Halide Perovskites

Metal halide perovskites are generating enormous interest for their use in solar cells and light-emission applications. One property linking the high performance of these devices is a high radiative efficiency of the materials; indeed, a prerequisite for these devices to reach their theoretical efficiency limits is the elimination of all nonradiative decay. Despite remarkable progress, there exists substantial parasitic nonradiative recombination in thin films of the materials and when interfaced into devices, and the origin of these processes is still poorly understood. In this Perspective, I will highlight key observations of these parasitic pathways on both the macro- and microscale in thin films and full devices. I will summarize our current understanding of the origin of nonradiative decay, as well as existing solutions that hint at facile ways to remove these processes. I will also show how these nonradiative decay pathways are intimately related to ionic migration, leading to the tantalizing conclusion that eliminating one phenomenon could in turn remove the other, ultimately pushing devices to their theoretical limits.