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  • H10F10/00—Individual photovoltaic cells, e.g. solar cells
  • H10F10/10—Individual photovoltaic cells, e.g. solar cells having potential barriers
  • H10F10/19—Photovoltaic cells having multiple potential barriers of different types, e.g. tandem cells having both PN and PIN junctions
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  • H10F77/12—Active materials
  • H10F77/126—Active materials comprising only Group I-III-VI chalcopyrite materials, e.g. CuInSe2, CuGaSe2 or CuInGaSe2 [CIGS]
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  • H10F77/10—Semiconductor bodies
  • H10F77/12—Active materials
  • H10F77/128—Active materials comprising only Group I-II-IV-VI kesterite materials, e.g. Cu2ZnSnSe4 or Cu2ZnSnS4
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  • H10F77/20—Electrodes
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  • H10K30/15—Sensitised wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, e.g. dye-sensitised TiO2
  • H10K30/151—Sensitised wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, e.g. dye-sensitised TiO2 the wide bandgap semiconductor comprising titanium oxide, e.g. TiO2
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  • H10K30/40—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation comprising a p-i-n structure, e.g. having a perovskite absorber between p-type and n-type charge transport layers
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  • H10K30/82—Transparent electrodes, e.g. indium tin oxide [ITO] electrodes
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  • H10K85/00—Organic materials used in the body or electrodes of devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K85/50—Organic perovskites; Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites [HOIP], e.g. CH3NH3PbI3
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
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  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
  • Y02E10/541—CuInSe2 material PV cells
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
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  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
  • Y02E10/549—Organic PV cells

Definitions

• the present invention relates to photovoltaic (PV) devices, and particularly to perovskite PV devices and multi-junction photovoltaic devices such as tandem solar cells having a perovskite-based sub-cell.
• PV photovoltaic
• Single junction solar cells - such as those made from silicon p-n junctions for example - have a maximum theoretical efficiency of about 29% under AM1.5G conditions (see for example the book“Photovoltaic Solar Energy - from Fundamentals to Applications”, edited by A Reinders et al., Wiley ISBN9781118927465 [2017] on p164) and practical efficiencies of up to 26%.
• a cell of a material having a higher band gap is stacked on top of the silicon single junction cell (or other type of single junction cell) and connected in series, the limiting theoretical efficiency increases to above 40%. There is therefore much current interest in tandem and other multi-junction cell technologies.
• single junction perovskite solar cells are exhibiting efficiencies to rival that of silicon.
• Solar cells can have a typical or an inverted structure.
• inverted perovskite solar cells such as those described herein, developed in the configuration often referred to as P-l-N (with layer sequence being p-type contact (P), perovskite (I), n-type contact (N))
• P-l-N with layer sequence being p-type contact (P), perovskite (I), n-type contact (N)
• P p-type contact
• I perovskite
• N n-type contact
• this organic material can become damaged during subsequent layering processes. This problem can be particularly acute when, for instance, the subsequent TCO (transparent conducting oxide electrode) layer is coated by sputtering onto the n-type contact.
• TCO transparent conducting oxide electrode
• a denser n-type inorganic contact can be deposited immediately after the organic n-contact layer is deposited.
• the purpose of the inorganic n-type layer is to protect the organic n-type and perovskite layers from ITO sputter damage, as well as to prevent the formation of deleterious ITO/organic- n and ITO/perovskite contact regions. Insufficient density and/or surface coverage of the inorganic layer, or overly high conductivity can limit its effectiveness.
• the present invention addresses these shortcomings with the prior art.
• Photovoltaic devices comprising multi-layered interfacial layers are known from US9, 416,279.
• this patent discloses the typical NIP structure rather than the PIN structures of the present invention.
• the manufacturing process considerations facing NIP and PIN structures are different. Sputtering is typically less of a problem for the NIP structures, whereas the use of sputtering with PIN structures can damage the materials, as detailed above.
• the present invention concerns inverted perovskite solar cells, and provides an inorganic‘intrinsic-n-type- intrinsic (INI)’ sandwich structure to replace the neat inorganic n-type layer of the prior art discussed above.
• the use of the interfacial trilayer structure of the present invention is advantageous over the use of a single SnC>2 layer for several reasons.
• the use of the first electrically insulating layer, for instance, AI 2 O 3 in the stack enables more reproducible growth of the entire stack when ALD is used. ALD growth depends almost entirely on surface chemistry.
• the AI 2 O 3 layer acts as a rapidly nucleating layer that functionalises the surface by creation of OH surface terminations, thereby assisting growth of the subsequent layer in the stack.
• the inclusion of the first layer reduces the run-to-run thickness variability.
• the first (e.g. AI 2 O 3 ) layer can also act to chemically passivate any free bonds that are present at the inorganic-n/organic-n interface, subsequently reducing the density of electronic traps available for carrier recombination, and therefore reducing the saturation current density, and diode ideality factor. This can act to increase both open-circuit voltage and fill factor.
• materials such as AI 2 O 3 can act as reservoirs for free radicals.
• the additional protection from sputter damage and prevention of ITO/organic-n, or ITO/perovskite defect interfaces can reduce parasitic shunt pathways and/or the formation of weak diode regions.
• a method of making a photovoltaic device as specified in any one of claims 1 to 11 in which the two inorganic electrically insulative layers and the layer of conductive material therebetween are deposited in sequence onto the layer of n-type electron transporting material by atomic layer deposition. Such deposition is preferably performed at a temperature of less than or equal to 125°C.
• Figure 1A illustrates in cross-section a known photovoltaic device
• Figure 1 B illustrates in cross-section an exemplary device according to the present invention
• Figure 2 is a plot of the measured thickness normalised to the expected thickness for repeated runs of: a) Sn0 2 only; and b) Al 2 0 3 /Sn0 2 /Al 2 0 3;
• Figure 3 is a table listing the best values and associated range (from 20 single-junction perovskite devices for each device type) of series resistance, ideality factor and reverse saturation current, as extracted by fitting a one diode model to the dark current-voltage data.
• Figure 4 shows the shunt resistance, Rshunt, of perovskite/Si tandem solar cells as a function of the thickness, x, of the first AI 2 O 3 layer within an ALD tri-layer: x nm-AhOs/SnC I nm-ALOs. The plot is shown for the best cell and the average of 20 devices for each thickness; and
• Figure 5 is an energy level diagram showing a straddling type-1 offset junction.
• the photovoltaic device comprises a PIN structure in which a p-type hole transporting layer is disposed on (or carried by) a substrate, and an perovskite layer and an n- type electron transporting layer are arranged in sequence on the p-type layer, and a light transmissive electrically conductive layer is provided on top of the n-type electron transporting layer to form a light receiving top surface, characterised in that between the n-type electron transporting layer and the light transmissive conductive layer there is provided an interfacial structure comprising two inorganic electrically insulative layers having a layer of a conductive material therebetween, wherein the two inorganic electrically insulative layers comprise a material having a band gap of greater than 4.5 eV and the layer of a conductive material comprises a material having a band gap of less than that of the electrically insulative layers (for example less than or equal to 4.0 eV and greater than 2 eV).
• the substrate advantageously comprises a further photovoltaic sub-cell to form a monolithically integrated multi-junction photovoltaic device.
• This further photovoltaic sub-cell may comprise, for example, a further perovskite, monocrystalline silicon, polysilicon, Cu(ln,Ga)Se2 or Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 sub-cell.
• the photovoltaic device is a monolithically integrated solar cell in which the further sub-cell comprises a layer of a perovskite material.
• the perovskite material is ambipolar. Typically it has a three-dimensional crystal structure having the formula ABX 3 , wherein A comprises one or more organic or inorganic cations (such as for example methylammonium, formamidinium, guanidinium etc., and caesium, rubidium, etc. cations), B represents a divalent metal selected from one or more of the group consisting of Pb, Sn, Sb, or Ti, and X represents one or more halide anions selected, for example, from Cl, Br and I.
• A comprises one or more organic or inorganic cations (such as for example methylammonium, formamidinium, guanidinium etc., and caesium, rubidium, etc. cations)
• B represents a divalent metal selected from one or more of the group consisting of Pb, Sn, Sb, or Ti
• X represents one or more halide anions selected, for example, from Cl, Br and I.
• a photovoltaic device comprising a Cu(ln,Ga)Se2 or Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 p-n junction comprising a p type layer and an n-type layer, and a light transmissive electrically conductive layer provided on top of the n-type layer to form a light receiving top surface, characterised in that between the n-type layer and the light transmissive conductive layer there is provided a structure comprising two inorganic electrically insulative layers having a layer of a conductive material therebetween, wherein the two inorganic electrically insulative layers comprise a material having a band gap of greater than that of the conductive material (for example greater than 4.5 eV) and the layer of a conductive material comprises a material having a band gap of less than that of the electrically insulative layers (for example less than 4.0 eV) and greater than 2 eV.
• Figure 1A shows a prior art device stack in schematic cross-section
• Figure 1 B shows a schematic cross-section of a photovoltaic device according to the present invention
• the substrate on the bottom of each stack (1) comprises a material such as glass having a TCO layer such as ITO on top, or a bottom sub-cell such as a silicon solar cell.
• TCO layer such as ITO
• bottom sub-cell such as a silicon solar cell.
• Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are described more fully in, for example, Werner et al. Adv. Mater.
• Figure 1 B shows an exemplary embodiment according to the present invention.
• the bottom of the stack (1) comprises a Si bottom cell or ITO/glass. This is then covered by a p-type layer (2), which in turn is covered by a perovskite layer (3).
• the perovskite layer is covered by an organic n-type layer (4).
• the top of the stack is formed from an ITO layer (9).
• the inventive trilayer interfacial structure of the invention (6,7,8).
• the p-type layer (2) comprises a hole transporting material, which may be inorganic or organic.
• a perovskite layer (3) having a three-dimensional crystal structure, such as for example, MAPbh or FAo . 8:Cso . 2Pbl2Br.
• the composition of the perovskite layer can be chosen appropriately for the desired band-gap of the photoactive layer.
• the p-type layer is a layer of a hole-transporting (i.e. a p-type) material.
• the p-type material may be a single p-type compound or elemental material, or a mixture of two or more p-type compounds or elemental materials, which may be undoped or doped with one or more dopant elements.
• the p-type layer may comprise an inorganic or an organic p-type material.
• the p- type region comprises a layer of an organic p-type material.
• Suitable p-type materials may be selected from polymeric or molecular hole transporters.
• the p-type layer employed in the photovoltaic device of the invention may for instance comprise spiro-OMeTAD (2,2’,7,7’-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)9,9’-spirobifluorene)), P3HT (poly(3-hexylthiophene)), PCPDTBT (Poly[2, 1 ,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyl[4,4-bis(2- ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2, 1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl]]), PVK (poly(N-vinylcarbazole)), HTM-TFSI (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide),
• the p-type region may comprise carbon nanotubes.
• the p-type material is selected from spiro-OMeTAD, P3HT, PCPDTBT and PVK.
• the p-type region consists of a p-type layer that comprises spiro-MeOTAD.
• the p-type layer may for example comprise spiro-OMeTAD (2,2’,7,7’-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p- methoxyphenylamine)9,9’-spirobifluorene)), P3HT (poly(3-hexylthiophene)), PCPDTBT (Poly[2, 1 ,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyl[4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2, 1-b:3,4- b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl]]), or PVK (poly(N-vinylcarbazole)).
• Suitable p-type materials also include molecular hole transporters, polymeric hole transporters and copolymer hole transporters.
• the p-type material may for instance be a molecular hole transporting material, a polymer or copolymer comprising one or more of the following moieties: thiophenyl, phenelenyl, dithiazolyl, benzothiazolyl, diketopyrrolopyrrolyl, ethoxydithiophenyl, amino, triphenyl amino, carbozolyl, ethylene dioxythiophenyl, dioxythiophenyl, or fluorenyl.
• a p-type layer employed in the photovoltaic device of the invention may for instance comprise any of the aforementioned molecular hole transporting materials, polymers or copolymers.
• Suitable p-type materials also include m-MTDATA (4, 4', 4"- tris(methylphenylphenylamino)triphenylamine), MeOTPD (N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(4- methoxyphenyl)-benzidine), BP2T (5,5'-di(biphenyl-4-yl)-2,2'-bithiophene), Di-NPB (N,N'-Di- [(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenyl]-1 , T-biphenyl)-4,4'-diamine), a-NPB (N,N’-di(naphthalen-1-yl)- N,N’-diphenyl-benzidine), TNATA (4,4',4"-tris-(N-(naphthylen-2-yl)-N- phenylamine)triphenylamine), BPAPF (9,9-bis
• the p-type layer may be doped, for instance with tertbutyl pyridine and LiTFSI.
• a p-type layer may be doped to increase the hole-density.
• a p-type layer may for instance be doped with NOBF 4 (Nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate), to increase the hole-density.
• the p-type layer may comprise an inorganic hole transporter.
• the p-type layer may comprise an inorganic hole transporter comprising an oxide of vanadium, copper, nickel or molybdenum; Cul, CuBr, CuSCN, CU2O, CuO or CIS; a perovskite; amorphous Si; a p-type group IV semiconductor, a p-type group lll-V semiconductor, a p-type group ll-VI semiconductor, a p-type group l-VII semiconductor, a p-type group IV-VI semiconductor, a p-type group V-VI semiconductor, and a p-type group ll-V semiconductor, which inorganic material may be doped or undoped.
• the p-type layer may be a compact layer of said inorganic hole transporter which is not porous.
• the p-type layer may for instance comprise an inorganic hole transporter comprising an oxide of nickel, vanadium, copper or molybdenum; Cul, CuBr, CuSCN, CU2O, CuO or CIS; amorphous Si; a p-type group IV semiconductor, a p-type group lll-V semiconductor, a p-type group ll-VI semiconductor, a p-type group l-VII semiconductor, a p-type group IV-VI semiconductor, a p-type group V-VI semiconductor, and a p-type group ll-V semiconductor, which inorganic material may be doped or undoped.
• an inorganic hole transporter comprising an oxide of nickel, vanadium, copper or molybdenum; Cul, CuBr, CuSCN, CU2O, CuO or CIS; amorphous Si; a p-type group IV semiconductor, a p-type group lll-V semiconductor, a p-type group
• the p-type region may, for example, have a thickness of from 5 nm to 1000 nm.
• the p-type region may have a thickness of from 50 nm to 500 nm, or from 100 nm to 500 nm.
• the p-type region 1 12 of the first sub-cell preferably has a thickness from 10 nm to 50 nm, and more preferably of approximately 20 nm.
• the p-type region could also comprise a bi-layer or multilayer structure consisting of 2 or more layers having different materials.
• the perovskite material may have general formula (I):
• [A] is one or more monovalent cations
• [B] is one or more divalent inorganic cations
• [X] is one or more halide anions, preferably comprises one or more halide anions selected from fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide, and preferably selected from chloride, bromide and iodide. More preferably [X] comprises one or more halide anions selected from bromide and iodide. In some examples, [X] preferably comprises two different halide anions selected from fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide, and preferably selected from chloride, bromide and iodide, and more preferably comprises bromide and iodide.
• [A] preferably comprises one or more organic cations selected from methylammonium (CH 3 NH 3 + ), formamidinium (HC(NH)2)2 + ), and ethyl ammonium (CH 3 CH2NH 3 + ), and preferably comprises one organic cation selected from methylammonium (CH 3 NH 3 + ) and formamidinium (HC(NH 2 )2 + ).
• [A] may comprise one or more inorganic cations selected from Cs + , Rb + , Cu + , Pd + , Pt + , Ag + , Au + , Rh + , and Ru + .
• [B] preferably comprises at least one divalent inorganic cation selected from Pb 2+ and Sn 2+ , and preferably comprises Pb 2+ .
• the perovskite material has the general formula:
• the perovskite material can therefore comprise a mixture of two monovalent cations.
• the perovskite material can therefore comprise either a single iodide anion or a mixture of iodide and bromide anions.
• perovskite materials can have band gaps in from 1.50eV to 1.75eV and that layers of such perovskite materials can be readily formed with suitable crystalline morphologies and phases. More preferably, the perovskite material is FAi- x Cs x Pbl3- y Br y .
• the absorption of the absorber should ideally be maximised so as to generate an optimal amount of current. Consequently, when using a perovskite as the absorber in a photovoltaic device or sub-cell, the thickness of the perovskite layer should ideally be in the order of from 300 to 600nm, in order to absorb most of the sun light across the visible spectrum. Typically, therefore, the thickness of the layer of the perovskite material is greater than 100nm.
• the thickness of the layer of the perovskite material in the photovoltaic device may for instance be from 100 nm to 1000 nm.
• the thickness of the layer of the perovskite material in the photovoltaic device may for instance be from 200 nm to 700 nm, and is preferably from 300nm to 600nm.
• the planar layer of perovskite material 11 in the photoactive region of the first/top sub-cell 210 preferably has a thickness from 350 nm to 450 nm, and more preferably of approximately 400nm.
• the perovskite layer may be prepared as described in WO2013/171517, WO2014/045021 , WO2016/198889, WO2016/005758, WO2017/089819, and in the reference books “Photovoltaic Solar Energy: From Fundamentals to Applications” edited by Angele Reinders and Pierre Verlinden, Wiley- Blackwell (2017) ISBN-13: 978-11 18927465 and Organic- Inorganic Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics: From Fundamentals to Device Architectures” edited by Nam-Gyu Park et al., Springer (2016) ISBN-13: 978-3319351124.
• On top of this perovskite layer is a layer of an electron transporting material (4).
• Electron transporting layers suitable for use in perovskite photovoltaic cells in the present embodiments have recently been described in the review paper“Current status of electron transport layers in perovskite solar cells: materials and properties”, Mahmood, Sarwar and Mehran, RSC Adv. 2017.7.17044.
• the electron transporting layers typically comprise n-type regions.
• the n-type region of the first sub-cell comprises one or more n-type layers.
• the n-type region is an n-type layer, i.e. a single n-type layer.
• the n-type region may comprise an n-type layer and a separate n-type exciton blocking layer or hole blocking layer.
• An exciton blocking layer is a material which is of wider band gap than the photoactive material, but has either its conduction band or valance band closely matched with those of the photoactive material. If the conduction band (or lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels) of the exciton blocking layer are closely aligned with the conduction band of the photoactive material, then electrons can pass from the photoactive material into and through the exciton blocking layer, or through the exciton blocking layer and into the photoactive material, and we term this an n-type exciton blocking layer.
• An example of such is bathocuproine (BCP), as described in P. Peumans, A. Yakimov, and S. R.
• the n-type layer (4) is a layer of an electron-transporting (i.e. an n-type) material.
• the n-type material may be a single n-type compound or elemental material, or a mixture of two or more n-type compounds or elemental materials, which may be undoped or doped with one or more dopant elements.
• the electron transporting material employed may comprise an inorganic or an organic n-type material.
• a suitable inorganic n-type material may be selected from a metal oxide, a metal sulphide, a metal selenide, a metal telluride, a perovskite, amorphous or nanocrystalline Si, an n-type group IV semiconductor, an n-type group lll-V semiconductor, an n-type group ll-VI semiconductor, an n-type group l-VII semiconductor, an n-type group IV-VI semiconductor, an n-type group V-VI semiconductor, and an n-type group ll-V semiconductor, any of which may be doped or undoped.
• the n-type material is selected from a metal oxide, a metal sulphide, a metal selenide, and a metal telluride.
• an n-type layer may comprise an inorganic material selected from oxide of titanium, tin, zinc, niobium, tantalum, tungsten, indium, gallium, neodymium, palladium, or cadmium, or an oxide of a mixture of two or more of said metals.
• an n-type layer may comprise T1O2, SnC>2, ZnO, Nb20s, Ta20s, WO3, W2O5, Ih2q3, Ga203, Nd203, PbO, or CdO.
• n-type materials include sulphides of cadmium, tin, copper, or zinc, including sulphides of a mixture of two or more of said metals.
• the sulphide may be FeS2, CdS, ZnS, SnS, BiS, SbS, or Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 .
• An n-type layer may for instance comprise a selenide of cadmium, zinc, indium, or gallium or a selenide of a mixture of two or more of said metals; or a telluride of cadmium, zinc, cadmium or tin, or a telluride of a mixture of two or more of said metals.
• the selenide may be Cu(ln,Ga)Se2.
• the telluride is a telluride of cadmium, zinc, cadmium or tin.
• the telluride may be CdTe.
• An n-type layer may for instance comprise an inorganic material selected from oxide of titanium, tin, zinc, niobium, tantalum, tungsten, indium, gallium, neodymium, palladium, cadmium, or an oxide of a mixture of two or more of said metals; a sulphide of cadmium, tin, copper, zinc or a sulphide of a mixture of two or more of said metals; a selenide of cadmium, zinc, indium, gallium or a selenide of a mixture of two or more of said metals; or a telluride of cadmium, zinc, cadmium or tin, or a telluride of a mixture of two or more of said metals.
• Examples of other semiconductors that may be suitable n-type materials, for instance if they are n-doped, include group IV elemental or compound semiconductors; amorphous Si; group lll-V semiconductors (e.g. gallium arsenide); group ll-VI semiconductors (e.g. cadmium selenide); group l-VII semiconductors (e.g. cuprous chloride); group IV-VI semiconductors (e.g. lead selenide); group V-VI semiconductors (e.g. bismuth telluride); and group ll-V semiconductors (e.g. cadmium arsenide).
• group IV elemental or compound semiconductors e.g. gallium arsenide
• group ll-VI semiconductors e.g. cadmium selenide
• group l-VII semiconductors e.g. cuprous chloride
• group IV-VI semiconductors e.g. lead selenide
• group V-VI semiconductors e.g. bismuth telluri
• an n-type layer is an inorganic material, for instance T1O2 or any of the other materials listed above, it may advantageously be a compact layer of said inorganic material.
• the n-type layer is a compact layer of PO2.
• Other n-type materials may also be employed, including organic and polymeric electron transporting materials, and electrolytes.
• Suitable examples include, but are not limited to a fullerene or a fullerene derivative, an organic electron transporting material comprising perylene or a derivative thereof, or poly ⁇ [N,N0-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1 , 4,5,8- bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,50-(2, 20-bithiophene) ⁇ (P(NDI20D-T2)).
• the n- type region may comprise a n-type layer comprising one or more of C60, C70, C84, C60- PCBM, C70-PCBM, C84-PCBM and carbon nanotubes.
• the n-type region may have a thickness of from 3 nm to 1000 nm. Where the n-type region comprises a compact layer of an n-type semiconductor, the compact layer has a thickness of from 3 nm to 200 nm.
• the interfacial structure (6,7,8) of this invention comprises a conductive material (7) sandwiched between two electrically insulating layers (6,8).
• the two electrically insulating layers comprise a material having an appropriate band gap of greater than 4.5eV.
• Each electrically insulating layer need not comprise the same material, although preferably, both layers do comprise the same material.
• a wide band gap is important.
• the material provides passivation of band gap states introduced by the n-type region below and the electrically conductive layer (e.g. SnC>2) above.
• FIG. 1 B onto the n-type layer (4) is deposited the two inorganic electrically insulative layers (6, 8) which comprise a material having a band gap of greater than 4.5 eV and the layer of a conductive material (7) therebetween, which preferably comprises a material having a band gap of less than 4.0 eV and greater than 2 eV.
• the electrically insulating layers are preferably deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD).
• the layer of conductive material forms a straddling type-1 offset junction with each electrically insulating layer, as illustrated in figure 5.
• FIG. 5 In this diagram:
• the electrically insulating layers (6,8) are formed from a material comprising a band gap of greater than 4.5eV, preferably greater than 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5 or 7eV. Suitable materials include AhCh and LiF. The most preferred material is AI 2 O 3 .
• the electrically insulating layers form a conduction band and valence band barrier at the interface with the adjacent layers, producing a type-1 heterojunction in these locations.
• Each layer of electrically insulating material preferably has a thickness in the range 0.1-10nm, preferably 0.4-3nm and most preferably around 1nm thick.
• Electrically conductive layer 7 is formed from a material having a band gap which is less than the bang gap of the material of the electrically insulating layers (6, 8). Where each conductive layer is made from a different material, the electrically conductive layer is formed from a material having a band gap of less than both materials. Preferably, it is less than 4.0 eV and greater than 2 eV.
• the electrically conductive layer is formed from a conductive n- type oxide.
• Suitable materials include SnO x ; ZnO x ; (Zn:Sn)O x ; TiO x and lnO x founded most preferably SnC>2, ZnO, ln 2 C>3 and T1O2.
• the most preferred material for the electrically conductive layer is SnC>2.
• the layer of a conductive material (7) between the two inorganic electrically insulative layers preferably has a thickness of between 3 and 12 nm.
• Band gaps are measured using UV-VIS spectroscopy using methods well known in the art. When the band gap is wider than, for instance, a glass substrate, ellipsometry (that extends sufficiently into the UV) can be used for more accurate determination of the parameter k. The band gap can then be determined from a Tauc plot generated from the k dispersion.
• a light transmissive electrically conductive layer (9) is then deposited on top of the n-type electron transporting layer to form a light receiving top surface.
• This layer typically comprises a sputtered transparent conducting oxide such as an ITO layer 10 to 200 nm in thickness, but other oxides or materials such as metal nanowires could be used alternatively or in addition.
• the thickness chosen is a compromise between transparency and electrical conductivity.
• the AI 2 O 3 layers are 1 nm thick and the SnC>2 layer is 6 nm thick comprising SnC>2 also deposited by ALD.
• TMA and H 2 O are held in separate stainless steel containers at room temperature, and the ALD sequence is TMA- dose/TMA-purge/FhO-dose/FhO purge.
• substrates are held at 80 - 120°C.
• TDMASn and H2O are held in separate stainless steel containers at 60°C and room temperature respectively, and the ALD sequence is TDMASn-dose/TDMASn-purge/FhO-dose/FhO purge.
• Growth-per-cycle for AI 2 O 3 and SnC>2 layers is 0.1 - 0.12 nm and 0.12 - 0.14 nm respectively, and cycle number is chosen appropriately to generate the desired thicknesses.
• the entire stack is deposited by thermal ALD to ensure thickness control and film completion for each constituent of the stack.
• H 2 O is used as the co-reactant for both SnC>2 and AI 2 O 3 processes.
• TDMASn and TMA are used as respective metal precursors.
• Figure 2 is a plot of the measured thickness normalised to the expected thickness for repeated runs of: a) SnC>2 only; and b) AhCh/SnC AhOs demonstrating the reduced run-to-run variability achieved with the tri-layer as compared to the single layer. This is attributed to the first AI 2 O 3 layer acting to promote nucleation of the SnC>2 layer.
• the thickness was measured using spectroscopic ellipsometry from a Si witness sample, included in deposition runs of perovskite devices. The thickness measured is relative to nominal thickness, which is set by the number of ALD cycles used.
• a Woollam M2000 ellipsometer was used to measure the thicknesses.
• a general-oscillator model consisting of a single Tauc-Lorentz oscillator, was used to describe the complex dielectric function and thereby fit the raw psi-delta dispersion data.
• the extracted fitting parameters from the Tauc- Lorentz oscillator construct an n and k dispersion. Following the data fitting, n @ 632nm lies between 1.8-1.85.
• Example 2 Series Resistance. Ideality Factor and Reverse Saturation Current
• Figure 3 is a table listing the best values and associated range (from 20 single-junction perovskite devices for each device type) of series resistance, ideality factor and reverse saturation current, as extracted by fitting a one diode model to the dark current-voltage data.
• the gains in V oc and FF obtained by using the tri-layer in place of SnC>2-only, as measured from light current-voltage data, are also shown.

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