scientists at the University of Warwick, Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Los Alamos National Laboratory and University at Buffalo in the U.S have found a colossal magnetoresistance at terahertz frequencies at room temperature in high-quality functional perovskite-based nanocomposites. This may find use in nanoelectronics and in THz optical components controlled by magnetic fields.

Electronics that can read and write data at terahertz frequency, rather than at a few gigahertz, can lead to faster performance. Creating such devices would be aided by the use of materials that can undergo a huge change in how easily they conduct electricity in response to a magnetic field at room temperature. Scientists believe thin films of perovskite oxides hold promise for such uses, but such behavior has until now never been seen at these frequencies in these films.

New research by teams at Inha University and Chonnam National University in South Korea reveals how to improve the lifetime of perovskite-based solar cells. The team has developed a method known as co-precipitation to make a thin film comprising nanoporous nickel oxide as the hole transporting layer (HTL) for a perovskite solar cell that uses the unique composition of FAPbI3 and or MAPbBr3 as the perovskite layer. In addition, they used an organic air-stable inorganic zinc oxide nanoparticles compound as the ETL (electron transporting layer) in order to protect the perovskite layer from air.

"We successfully optimized the metal oxide based HTL and ETL protecting layers for highly efficient perovskite absorber by a simple method which can make air-stable photovoltaics," explains co-author of the study. "Our main goal is to solve the problem of the tedious process of making conventional additive-doped, highly expensive, unstable HTLs by replacing low-cost, inorganic air-stable p and n-type metal oxides," he added.