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Peer-reviewedCC BYAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)

Illumination-Dependent Interfacial Recombination in Perovskite Photovoltaics Driven by Trap States in Metal Oxide Electron Transport Layers.

  • Tianhao Lan1
  • Joel Luke1,2
  • Oskar J Sandberg3
  • Charlie Henderson1,4
  • Ying Sun1
  • Katherine Stewart1
  • Ji-Seon Kim1,4,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Physics and Centre for Processable Electronics, Imperial College London, London, UK.
  2. 2Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
  3. 3Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
  4. 4Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  5. 5Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Abstract

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) now exceed 27% power conversion efficiency (PCE); however their performance under varying illumination conditions remains strongly influenced by interfacial charge carrier dynamics. Although bulk defects have been substantially reduced through perovskite compositional engineering, trap states in metal oxide electron transport layers (ETLs) can still capture carriers and promote non-radiative recombination, with effects that depend strongly on photon flux. Here, we investigate trap-assisted interfacial recombination in metal oxide ETLs using a Low-High-Low (LHL) illumination protocol, which probes device behavior from low-light (1000 lux) to 1 Sun and back. We find that interfacial trap states have only a minor effect under low-light but become highly detrimental under 1 Sun illumination, where they dominate interfacial recombination and reduce the open-circuit voltage (VOC). This effect is particularly pronounced for metal oxides with higher densities of surface trap states, such as TiO₂. Upon returning to low-light after 1 Sun exposure, devices show a marked VOC decrease followed by slow recovery, consistent with gradual charge release from interfacial traps and the subsequent suppression of recombination. These findings reveal the strongly illumination-dependent role of metal oxide trap states and provide design guidance for optimizing PSCs for both outdoor and indoor photovoltaic applications.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{lan2026illuminationdependent,
  title = {{Illumination-Dependent Interfacial Recombination in Perovskite Photovoltaics Driven by Trap States in Metal Oxide Electron Transport Layers.}},
  author = {Tianhao Lan and Joel Luke and Oskar J Sandberg and Charlie Henderson and Ying Sun and Katherine Stewart and Ji-Seon Kim},
  journal = {Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1002/advs.78501},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42961018},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Illumination-Dependent Interfacial Recombination in Perovskite Photovoltaics Driven by Trap States in Metal Oxide Electron Transport Layers.
AU  - Tianhao Lan
AU  - Joel Luke
AU  - Oskar J Sandberg
AU  - Charlie Henderson
AU  - Ying Sun
AU  - Katherine Stewart
AU  - Ji-Seon Kim
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
DO  - 10.1002/advs.78501
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42961018
AB  - Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) now exceed 27% power conversion efficiency (PCE); however their performance under varying illumination conditions remains strongly influenced by interfacial charge carrier dynamics. Although bulk defects have been substantially reduced through perovskite compositional engineering, trap states in metal oxide electron transport layers (ETLs) can still capture carriers and promote non-radiative recombination, with effects that depend strongly on photon flux. Here, we investigate trap-assisted interfacial recombination in metal oxide ETLs using a Low-High-Low (LHL) illumination protocol, which probes device behavior from low-light (1000 lux) to 1 Sun and back. We find that interfacial trap states have only a minor effect under low-light but become highly detrimental under 1 Sun illumination, where they dominate interfacial recombination and reduce the open-circuit voltage (VOC). This effect is particularly pronounced for metal oxides with higher densities of surface trap states, such as TiO₂. Upon returning to low-light after 1 Sun exposure, devices show a marked VOC decrease followed by slow recovery, consistent with gradual charge release from interfacial traps and the subsequent suppression of recombination. These findings reveal the strongly illumination-dependent role of metal oxide trap states and provide design guidance for optimizing PSCs for both outdoor and indoor photovoltaic applications.
SN  - 2198-3844
ER  -