Impedance Spectroscopy of Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells from the Perspective of Equivalent Circuits

Impedance spectroscopy (IS) provides a detailed understanding of the dynamic phenomena underlying the operation of photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices. Here we provide a broad summary of the application of IS to metal halide perovskite materials, solar cells, electrooptic and memory devices. IS has been widely used to characterize perovskite solar cells, but the variability of samples and the presence of coupled ionic-electronic effects form a complex problem that has not been fully solved yet. We summarize the understanding that has been obtained so far, the basic methods and models, as well as the challenging points still present in this research field. Our approach emphasizes the importance of the equivalent circuit for monitoring the parameters that describe the response and providing a physical interpretation. We discuss the possibilities of models from the general perspective of solar cell behavior, and we describe the specific aspects and properties of the metal halide perovskites. We analyze the impact of the ionic effects and the memory effects, and we describe the combination of light-modulated techniques such as intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) for obtaining more detailed information in complex cases. The transformation of the frequency to time domain is discussed for the consistent interpretation of time transient techniques and the prediction of features of current-voltage hysteresis. We discuss in detail the stability issues and the occurrence of transformations of the sample coupled to the measurements.