Triple-junction solar cells with cyanate in ultrawide-bandgap perovskites

Abstract

Perovskite bandgap tuning without quality loss makes perovskites unique among solar absorbers, offering promising avenues for tandem solar cells^1,2. However, minimizing the voltage loss when their bandgap is increased to above 1.90 eV for triple-junction tandem use is challenging^3-5. Here we present a previously unknown pseudohalide, cyanate (OCN^-), with a comparable effective ionic radius (1.97 Å) to bromide (1.95 Å) as a bromide substitute. Electron microscopy and X-ray scattering confirm OCN incorporation into the perovskite lattice. This contributes to notable lattice distortion, ranging from 90.5° to 96.6°, a uniform iodide-bromide distribution and consistent microstrain. Owing to these effects, OCN-based perovskite exhibits enhanced defect formation energy and substantially decreased non-radiative recombination. We achieved an inverted perovskite (1.93 eV) single-junction device with an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 1.422 V, a V_OC × FF (fill factor) product exceeding 80% of the Shockley-Queisser limit and stable performance under maximum power point tracking, culminating in a 27.62% efficiency (27.10% certified efficiency) perovskite-perovskite-silicon triple-junction solar cell with 1 cm² aperture area.