Negative Capacitance and Inverted Hysteresis: Matching Features in Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Negative capacitance in the low-frequency domain and inverted hysteresis are familiar features in perovskite solar cells, which origin is still under discussion. Here we use impedance spectroscopy to analyze these responses in methylammonium lead bromide cells treated with lithium cations at the electron-selective layer/perovskite interface and in iodide devices exposed to different relative humidity conditions. Employing the surface polarization model, we obtain a time constant associated with the kinetics of the interaction of ions/vacancies with the surface, τ_kin, in the range of 10⁰-10² s for all the cases exhibiting both features. These interactions lead to a decrease in the overall recombination resistance, modifying the low-frequency perovskite response and yielding a flattening of the cyclic voltammetry. As a consequence of these results we find that negative capacitance and inverted hysteresis lead to a decrease in the fill factor and photovoltage values.