Assessing the suitability of copper thiocyanate as a hole-transport layer in inverted CsSnI3 perovskite photovoltaics

Wijesekara, Anjana; Varagnolo, Silvia; Dabera, G. Dinesha M. R.; Marshall, Kenneth P.; Pereira, H. Jessica and Hatton, Ross A. (2018). Assessing the suitability of copper thiocyanate as a hole-transport layer in inverted CsSnI3 perovskite photovoltaics. Scientific Reports, 8(1)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33987-7

Abstract

We report the fndings of a study into the suitability of copper (I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) as a hole-transport layer in inverted photovoltaic (PV) devices based on the black gamma phase (B-γ) of CsSnl₃ perovskite. Remarkably, when B-γ-CsSnI3 perovskite is deposited from a dimethylformamide solution onto a 180–190nm thick CuSCN flm supported on an indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode, the CuSCN layer is completely displaced leaving a perovskite layer with high uniformity and coverage of the underlying ITO electrode. This fnding is confrmed by detailed analysis of the thickness and composition of the film that remains after perovskite deposition, together with photovoltaic device studies. The results of this study show that, whilst CuSCN has proved to be an excellent hole-extraction layer for high performance lead-perovskite and organic photovoltaics, it is unsuitable as a hole-transport layer in inverted B-γCsSnI3 perovskite photovoltaics processed from solution.