Interfacial Dynamics at Surface Modified Molecular/Perovskite Solar Cells : How measurements are made to understand solar cell stability

Abstract: Humanity has great energy demands, and must simultaneously combat climate change by curbing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Perovskite solar cells (PSC) provide a low-carbon energy source, at lower production costs than traditional silicon-based solar cells. PSC's suffer some issues with long-term stability. This report presents a measurement aimed at better understanding interfacial dynamics of PSC's, using X-ray Photo-electron Spectroscopy (XPS). By collecting data at the synchrotron BESSY II, material compositions at different depths in the cell were successfully measured. An unexplained shift in binding energy was observed for configurations with an external light source on and off.