Suppression of atomic vacancies via incorporation of isovalent small ions to increase the stability of halide perovskite solar cells in ambient air

The degradation of perovskite solar cells in the presence of trace water and oxygen poses a challenge for their commercial impact given the appreciable permeability of cost-effective encapsulants. Point defects were recently shown to be a major source of decomposition due to their high affinity for water and oxygen molecules. Here, we report that, in single-cation/halide perovskites, local lattice strain facilitates the formation of vacancies and that cation/halide mixing suppresses their formation via strain relaxation. We then show that judiciously selected dopants can maximize the formation energy of defects responsible for degradation. Cd-containing cells show an order of magnitude enhanced unencapsulated stability compared to state-of-art mixed perovskite solar cells, for both shelf storage and maximum power point operation in ambient air at a relative humidity of 50%. We conclude by testing the generalizability of the defect engineering concept, demonstrating both vacancy-formation suppressors (such as Zn) and promoters (such as Hg). Despite their high efficiencies, perovskite solar cells still suffer from degradation issues that impede their practical deployment. Saidaminov et al. explore the effect of local lattice strain on vacancy formation and show that careful choice of dopants plays a key role, enhancing the device stability.