Triple cathode buffer layers composed of PCBM, C60, and LiF for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells

In this paper, triple cathode buffer layers (CBLs) composed of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), C60, and LiF layers were introduced into the planar p-i-n perovskite solar cells (p-i-n PSCs) with a device structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/CH3NH3PbI3-xClx/CBLs/Al. For comparison, a single CBL of PCBM and a double CBL of PCBM/LiF were also investigated in the p-i-n PSCs. On the basis of the PCBM buffer layer, the addition of a thin LiF layer facilitated the charge collection process and led to the dramatic improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSCs up to 14.69% under an illumination of AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm(2), which is to date one of the highest efficiencies of the p-i-n PSCs. By further insertion of a C60 layer between PCBM and LiF in the triple CBLs, a PCE of 14.24% was obtained, and more importantly, the PCBM/C60/LiF triple CBLs are very helpful for improving the stability of the devices and making the LiF layer less thickness-sensitive for achieving high performances of the p-i-n PSCs.