Impact of hole transport material on perovskite solar cells with different metal electrode: A SCAPS-1D simulation insight

The high efficiency and low cost of production of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on organic-inorganic halides have attracted the attention of researchers. However, due to the intricacy in the synthesis of Spiro-OMeTAD and the high cost of gold (Au) utilized as the back contact (BC), have affected its viability for commercialization. In this present study, a simulation was performed with and without HTM utilizing different metal contacts (Ag, Cr, Cu, Au, Ni and Pt). SCAPS-1D, a software program in one dimension, was used to conduct the simulation. A systematic analysis was done to determine how the metal back contact's work functions affected the PSC both with and without HTM. The outcomes demonstrate that the PSCs' photovoltaic performance is significantly influenced by the metal contact's work function (W_F). The best metal contact for HTM and HTM-free devices was Pt, with a metal work function of 5.65 eV. The initial power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) for the two configurations were 26.229% for HTM-free and 25.608% for HTM-based device. A number of parameters, including absorber thickness, interface defect density, and electron transport material (ETM) thickness, were varied to obtain optimal values of 0.8 μm for both HTM and HTM-free PSCs, 10⁰⁵ cm^-2 for both HTM and HTM-free PSCs, and 0.01 μm for both HTM and HTM-free PSCs. These values were then used to simulate the final HTM and HTM-free devices with a PCE of 27.423%, current density (J_sc) of 27.546 mA/cm², open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 1.239 V, and fill factor (FF) of 80.347% for HTM-free whereas PCE of 26.767% with J_sc of 27.545 mA/cm², V_oc of 1.250 V, and FF of 77.733% for HTM based. These outcomes reflect outstanding enhancement of ∼1.05 and ∼1.07 times in PCE and J_sc over unoptimized cells with and without HTM.