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arXiv · 1504.05454

Non-ferroelectric nature of the conductance hysteresis in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite-based photovoltaic devices

J. Beilsten-Edmands·G. E. Eperon·R. D. Johnson·H. J. Snaith·P. G. Radaelli
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Abstract

We present measurements of conductance hysteresis on CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite thin films, performed using the double-wave method, in order to investigate the possibility of a ferroelectric response. A strong frequency dependence of the hysteresis is observed in the range of 0.1 Hz to 150 Hz, with a hysteretic charge density in excess of 1000 μC/cm2 at frequencies below 0.4 Hz - a behaviour uncharacteristic of a ferroelectric response. We show that the observed hysteretic conductance, as well as the presence of a double arc in the impedance spectroscopy, can be fully explained by the migration of mobile ions under bias on a timescale of seconds. Our measurements place an upper limit of approximately 1 μC/cm2 on any intrinsic frequency-independent polarisation, ruling out ferroelectricity as the main cause of current-voltage hysteresis and providing further evidence of the importance of ionic migration in modifying the efficiency of CH3NH3PbI3 devices.

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J. Beilsten-Edmands, G. E. Eperon, R. D. Johnson, H. J. Snaith, P. G. Radaelli. 2015-04-21. Non-ferroelectric nature of the conductance hysteresis in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite-based photovoltaic devices. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4919109

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