Ultralow dark current in near-infrared perovskite photodiodes by reducing charge injection and interfacial charge generation.

Ollearo, Riccardo; Wang, Junke; Dyson, Matthew J; Weijtens, Christ H L; Fattori, Marco; van Gorkom, Bas T; van Breemen, Albert J J M; Meskers, Stefan C J et al. · Nat Commun · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Metal halide perovskite photodiodes (PPDs) offer high responsivity and broad spectral sensitivity, making them attractive for low-cost visible and near-infrared sensing. A significant challenge in achieving high detectivity in PPDs is lowering the dark current density (J<sub>D</sub>) and noise current (i<sub>n</sub>). This is commonly accomplished using charge-blocking layers to reduce charge injection. By analyzing the temperature dependence of J<sub>D</sub> for lead-tin based PPDs with different bandgaps and electron-blocking layers (EBL), we demonstrate that while EBLs eliminate electron injection, they facilitate undesired thermal charge generation at the EBL-perovskite interface. The interfacial energy offset between the EBL and the perovskite determines the magnitude and activation energy of J<sub>D</sub>. By increasing this offset we realized a PPD with ultralow J<sub>D</sub> and i<sub>n</sub> of 5 × 10<sup>-8</sup> mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and 2 × 10<sup>-14</sup> A Hz<sup>-1/2</sup>, respectively, and wavelength sensitivity up to 1050 nm, establishing a new design principle to maximize detectivity in perovskite photodiodes.