Ultrathin Perovskite Monocrystals Boost the Solar Cell Performance

Abstract Grains and grain boundaries play key roles in determining halide perovskite‐based optoelectronic device performance. Halide perovskite monocrystalline solids with large grains, smaller grain boundaries, and uniform surface morphology improve charge transfer and collection, suppress recombination loss, and thus are highly favorable for developing efficient solar cells. To date, strategies of synthesizing high‐quality thin monocrystals (TMCs) for solar cell applications are still limited. Here, by combining the antisolvent vapor‐assisted crystallization and space‐confinement strategies, high‐quality millimeter sized TMCs of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) perovskites with controlled thickness from tens of nanometers to several micrometers have been fabricated. The solar cells based on these MAPbI₃ TMCs show power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.1% which is significantly improved compared to their polycrystalline counterparts (PCE) of 17.3%. The MAPbI₃ TMCs show large grain size, uniform surface morphology, high hole mobility (up to 142 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹), as well as low trap (defect) densities. These properties suggest that TMCs can effectively suppress the radiative and nonradiative recombination loss, thus provide a promising way for maximizing the efficiency of perovskite solar cells.