Do grain boundaries dominate non-radiative recombination in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite thin films?

Abstract

Here, we examine grain boundaries (GBs) with respect to non-GB regions (grain surfaces (GSs) and grain interiors (GIs)) in high-quality micrometer-sized perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃ (or MAPbI₃) thin films using high-resolution confocal fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy in conjunction with kinetic modeling of charge-transport and recombination processes. We show that, contrary to previous studies, GBs in our perovskite MAPbI₃ thin films do not lead to increased recombination but that recombination in these films happens primarily in the non-GB regions (i.e., GSs or GIs). We also find that GBs in these films are not transparent to photogenerated carriers, which is likely associated with a potential barrier at GBs. Even though GBs generally display lower luminescence intensities than GSs/GIs, the lifetimes at GBs are no worse than those at GSs/GIs, further suggesting that GBs do not dominate non-radiative recombination in MAPbI₃ thin films.