Direct Observation of Long Electron-Hole Diffusion Distance in CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Thin Film

Abstract: In high performance perovskite based solar cells, CH3NH3PbI3 is the key material. We carried out a study on charge diffusion in spin-coated CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite thin film by transient fluorescent spectroscopy. A thickness-dependent fluorescent lifetime was found. By coating the film with an electron or hole transfer layer, [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) or 2,2,7,7-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) respectively, we observed the charge transfer directly through the fluorescence quenching. One-dimensional diffusion model was applied to obtain long charge diffusion distances in thick films, which is ~1.7 um for electrons and up to ~6.3 um for holes. Short diffusion distance of few hundreds of nanosecond was also observed in thin films. This thickness dependent charge diffusion explained the formerly reported short charge diffusion distance (~100 nm) in films and resolved its confliction to thick working layer (300-500 nm) in real devices. This study presents direct support to the high performance perovskite solar cells and will benefit the devices design.