Lead halide perovskites have emerged as promising absorber materials over the last decade to increase the efficiency of photovoltaics beyond its current limits. However, to further optimize the performance of perovskites more detailed studies need to be performed, which allow for the correlation of film morphology and local electronic properties at the nanoscale. Here, we present a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) approach to probe the effect of an applied electric field of a methylammonium formamidinium lead triiodide perovskite thin film on the film response by current–voltage spectroscopy, current imaging tunneling spectroscopy, differential conductance mapping, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy by means of synchrotron x-ray STM. We find a strong correlation between the measurement conditions and the obtained current–voltage characteristics when imaging under opposite bias polarities. In particular, we find similarities to already observed poling effects for lead halide perovskites, which result in either a positively or negatively charged interface due to ion and vacancy migration. Our results provide insight into the influence of measurement conditions such as bias polarity on the performance assessment of perovskite thin films by STM.
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28 September 2020
Research Article|
September 30 2020
Investigating the effect of electric fields on lead halide perovskites by scanning tunneling microscopy
Special Collection:
Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskites
Sarah Wieghold
;
Sarah Wieghold
a)
1
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University
, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
2
Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory
, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
3
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory
, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
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Nozomi Shirato;
Nozomi Shirato
2
Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory
, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
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Volker Rose;
Volker Rose
2
Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory
, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
3
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory
, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
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Lea Nienhaus
Lea Nienhaus
a)
1
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University
, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
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Note: This paper is part of the special collection on Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskites
J. Appl. Phys. 128, 125303 (2020)
Article history
Received:
April 23 2020
Accepted:
September 15 2020
Citation
Sarah Wieghold, Nozomi Shirato, Volker Rose, Lea Nienhaus; Investigating the effect of electric fields on lead halide perovskites by scanning tunneling microscopy. J. Appl. Phys. 28 September 2020; 128 (12): 125303. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0011735
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