Planar heterojunction perovskite solar cell based on CdS electron transport layer

Abstract We report on planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells employing a metal chalcogenide (CdS) electron transport layer with power conversion efficiency up to 10.8%. The CdS layer was deposited via solution-process chemical bath deposition at low-temperature (60 °C). Pinhole-free and uniform thin films were obtained with good structural, optical and morphological properties. An optimal layer thickness of 60 nm yielded an improved open-circuit voltage and fill factor compared to the standard TiO2-based solar cells. Devices showed a higher reproducibility of the results compared to TiO2-based ones. We also tested the effect of annealing temperature on the CdS film and the effect of CdCl2 treatment followed by high temperature annealing (410 °C) that is expected to passivate the surface, thus eliminating eventual trap-states inducing recombination.