Study the effect of total defect density variation in absorbing layer on the power conversion efficiency of lead halide perovskite solar cell using SCAPS-1D simulation tool

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are known as 3rd generation solar cells that have enormous potential to be commercialised. But the major drawback is less stability and degraded performance with the passage of time. Various parameters that contribute to their efficiency are doping concentration of charge carriers, thickness of absorbing layer and total defect density. This paper presents a numerical study on inverted planar organometal lead halide perovskite based solar cells using NiO as hole transport layer (HTL) and SnO2 as electron transport layer (ETL). The structure ITO/NiO/CH3NH3PbI3/SnO2/metal contact is simulated using SCAPS-1D software. Here we investigate the effect of variation of total defect density on the efficiency of perovskite solar cell at the layer thickness of 320 nm. The simulated device reported a Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.5% at the total defect density level of 1015 cm−3, VOC of 1.06 V and Fill Factor (FF) of 0.80. Further analysis revealed a declining trend in the (PCE) value from 25.5% to 1.85% on increasing the defect density from 1015 to 1018 cm−3. This trend is detrimental for the overall performance of the device.