Highly compact TiO₂layer for efficient hole-blocking in perovskite solar cells

A uniform and pinhole-free hole-blocking layer is necessary for high-performance perovskite-based thin-film solar cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of nanoscale pinholes in compact TiO 2 layers on the device performance. Surface morphology and film resistance studies show that TiO 2 compact layers fabricated using atomic layer deposition (ALD) contain a much lower density of nanoscale pinholes than layers obtained by spin coating and spray pyrolysis methods. The ALD-based TiO 2 layer acts as an efficient hole-blocking layer in perovskite solar cells; it offers a large shunt resistance and enables a high power conversion efficiency of 12.56%.