Efficient and balanced charge transport revealed in planar perovskite solar cells

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have emerged as novel photovoltaic materials and hold great promise for realization of high-efficiency thin film solar modules. In this study, we unveil the ambipolar characteristics of perovskites by employing the transport measurement techniques of charge extraction by linearly increasing voltage (CELIV) and time-of-flight (TOF). These two complementary methods are combined to quantitatively determine the mobilities of hole and electron of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite while revealing the recombination process and trap states. It is revealed that efficient and balanced transport is achieved in both CH3NH3PbI3 neat film and CH3NH3PbI3/PC61BM bilayer solar cells. Moreover, with the insertion of PC61BM, both hole and electron mobilities of CH3NH3PbI3 are doubled. This study offers a dynamic understanding of the operation of perovskite solar cells.