Growing perovskite on textured silicon: Wide–band gap perovskites could boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells by forming tandem cells, but usually the perovskite must be grown on a smoothed side of the silicon cell because the material grown on the rough light-trapping side often does not fully coat the silicon surface and its rough texture is prone to phase separation. Hou et al. grew thick films of a perovskite with a band gap of ∼1.68 electron volts and used a passivant, 1-butanethiol, to limit its phase separation. The tandem cells had a certified power conversion efficiency of 25.7% and had negligible losses after 400 hours of operation. Science , this issue p. 1135
Strain-stabilized perovskites: The perovskite materials used for solar cells and light-emitting diodes (which are black in color) are generally less stable at room temperature than the electronically inactive nonperovskite phases (which are yellow in color). Steele et al. show that for CsPbI 3 , strain induced in a thin film after annealing the material to 330°C and then rapidly cooling it to room temperature kinetically trapped the black phase. Grazing-incidence wide-angle x-ray scattering revealed the crystal distortions and texture formation created by interfacial strain. Science , this issue p. 679
It remains a central challenge to the information display community to develop red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that meet demanding color coordinate requirements for wide color gamut displays. Here, we report high-efficiency, lead-free (PEA)2SnI4 perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) with color coordinates (0.708, 0.292) that fulfill the Rec. 2100 specification for red emitters. Using valeric acid (VA)—which we show to be strongly coordinated to Sn2+—we slow the crystallization rate of the perovskite, improving the film morphology. The incorporation of VA also protects tin from undesired oxidation during the film-forming process. The improved films and the reduced Sn4+ content enable PeLEDs with an external quantum efficiency of 5% and an operating half-life exceeding 15 hours at an initial brightness of 20 cd/m2. This work illustrates the potential of Cd- and Pb-free PeLEDs for display technology.