Interfacial passivation of CsPbI3 quantum dots improves the performance of hole-transport-layer-free perovskite photodetectors

Abstract Photodetectors (PDs) suffer from dark current due to defects in the perovskite photosensitive layer. Contact between the photosensitive layer and carbon electrodes could result in recombination of carriers at the interface. In this work, CsPbI3 quantum dots (QDs) were added between the photosensitive layer and the carbon electrode as the interfacial layer to passivate the surface defects of perovskite layer and improve the energy level matching at the interface. The effect of QDs concentrations on the passivation of the perovskite layer was investigated. It was found that the photoluminescence intensity of perovskite films was the strongest and the decay lifetime was the longest when the QDs concentration was 3 mg/mL. Owing to QDs passivation, the dark current of perovskite PD decreased by 94% from $$2.04\; \times \;10^{ - 9}$$ 2.04 × 10 - 9 to $$1.17\; \times \;10^{ - 10}$$ 1.17 × 10 - 10 A. The responsivity (R) at 605 nm improved by 27% from 0.29 to 0.37 A/W at 0 V bias voltage. The specific detectivity (D*) increased by 420% from $$8.9\; \times \;10^{11}$$ 8.9 × 10 11 to $$4.7\; \times \;10^{12}$$ 4.7 × 10 12 Jones.