MOFs are a type of porous organic-inorganic hybrid material with interesting properties in terms of the passivation of defects in the perovskite and its stability, particularly versus light. For example:
- Direct effect of MOF components as passivation agents: Metal ions and organic ligands can passivate defects at the MOF/PK interface.
- Downconversion of incident radiation: Certain metals (such as europium) or ligands (with aromatic groups) can absorb high-energy radiation (typically violet/near-UV), then re-emit this energy in the form of lower-energy radiation or transmit it directly in a non-radiative manner to the perovskite by Förster resonance (or FRET). This protects the perovskite from high-energy photons, and therefore a priori improves light stability, with little energy loss.
The thesis work will focus on
- integrating MOFs into the perovskite layer, either as a surface treatment or as a mixture of suspensions
- Materials studies (in particular advanced studies using XPS and UPS)
- Favrication of single-junction devices and then tandem devices with silicon sub-cells
- Study of lifetime under illumination (continuous, cycling) with associated characterisations (electrical measurements, photoluminescence, etc.).