Characterization of Low-Frequency Excess Noise in CH₃NH₃PbI₃-Based Solar Cells Grown by Solution and Hybrid Chemical Vapor Deposition Techniques

In this study, detailed investigations of low-frequency noise (LFN) characteristics of hybrid chemical vapor deposition (HCVD)- and solution-grown CH₃NH₃PbI₃ (MAPI) solar cells are reported. It has been shown that LFN is a ubiquitous phenomenon observed in all semiconductor devices. It is the smallest signal that can be measured from the device; hence, systematic characterization of the LFN properties can be utilized as a highly sensitive nondestructive tool for the characterization of material defects in the device. It has been demonstrated that the noise power spectral densities of the devices are critically dependent on the parameters of the fabrication process, including the growth ambient of the perovskite layer and the incorporation of the mesoscopic structures in the devices. Our experimental results indicated that the LFN arises from a thermally activated trapping and detrapping process, resulting in the corresponding fluctuations in the conductance of the device. The results show that the presence of oxygen in the growth ambient of the HCVD process and the inclusion of an mp-TiO₂ layer in the device structure are two important factors contributing to the substantial reduction in the density of the localized states in the MAPI devices. Furthermore, the lifetimes of the MAPI perovskite-based solar cells are strongly dependent on the material defect concentration. The degradation process is substantially more rapid for the devices with higher initial defect density compared to the devices prepared under optimized conditions and structure that exhibit substantially lower initial trap density.