The Perovskite-Info newsletter (March 8, 2022)

UK-based perovskite material developer Helio Display Materials announced that it has raised $4.75 million in its Series A funding round. The funds will be used to significantly expand the company's team and also a move to custom-built labs.

Helio Display Materials was spun-off from both Oxford and Cambridge University, to commercialize photoluminescent and electroluminescent perovskite-based materials for the display industry. In June 2020 we posted an interview with Helio's CEO, Simon B. Jones, discussing the company's technology and business

A new project, one of eight that successfully secured funding from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) – Zelman Cowen Academic Initiatives (ZCAI), Australia this year, will focus on developing X-ray detectors from metal halide perovskite materials.

Associate Professor Guohua Jia, from Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said X-ray detectors based on metal halide perovskites are highly sensitive, enabling a very low detection limit, meaning they could lower medical expenses and reduce the risk of radiation to patients.

An international research group has designed a semi-transparent perovskite solar cell that reportedly shows an improved open-circuit voltage and fill factor thanks to plasmonic enhancement.

The technique is based on the enhancement of the cell's electromagnetic field through metal nanostructures, which improves the device's low optical absorption in the visible spectrum. The research team designed the tech with applications in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) in mind, but it can also be suitable for automotive and smart glasses.

A new study by HZB, Delft University of Technology, University of Potsdam, Yale University, Czech Academy of Sciences, NIST, University of Würzburg, Nihon University, Oregon State University, University of Warwick, Drexel University and University of California Irvine shows how terahertz (TRTS) and microwave spectroscopy (TRMC) can be used to reliably determine the mobility and lifetime of the charge carriers in semiconducting materials.

Using these measurement data it is possible to predict the potential efficiency of the solar cell in advance and to classify the losses in the finished cell.

Researchers from solar manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS and research institute Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have announced a power conversion efficiency of 28.7% for a two-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell.

The device is based on a silicon bottom cell relying on Hanwha Q CELLS' monocrystalline Q.antum half cell technology and a perovskite-based top cell.