Morphology and carrier extraction study of organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite by one- and two-photon fluorescence microscopy

The past two years have seen the uniquely rapid emergence of a new class of solar-cell-based on mixed organic-inorganic halide perovskite. In this work, we demonstrate a promising technique for studying the morphology of perovskite and its impact on carrier extraction by carrier transport layer using one-photon and two-photon fluorescence imaging in conjunction with time-resolved photoluminescence. This technique is not only effective in separating surface and bulk effects but it also allows the determination of lifetimes in localized regions and local carrier extraction efficiency. The difference in sensitivities of transport materials to grain boundaries and film uniformity is highlighted in this study. It is shown that the PCBM fabricated in this work is more sensitive to film nonuniformity, whereas spiro-OMeTAD is more sensitive to grain boundaries in terms of effective carrier extraction.