Within the last decade, novel electronic components made of organic and hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductors have emerged, including light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and solar cells. For each discipline, an increase of the performances is still required and relies on the tailoring of the material properties, combined with a thorough understanding of the physical mechanisms at stake at the core of the devices.
As far as local processes in organic photovoltaic devices (OPV) are concerned, Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) has naturally contributed to the understanding of the local properties and photophysics of various materials and structures. For example, the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was shown to spatially and quantitatively describe the charge injection, generation and transport in organic photoactive materials, but also to resolve charge carrier dynamics with time-resolved Electrostatic Force Microscopy and frequency-modulated Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy, as well as study the aging processes using Q-factor imaging.
More recently the solution-processed hybrid lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have quickly yielded performances above 20%, and therefore already challenge multicrystalline silicon technologies. This impressive progression is mainly achieved by device engineering and optimisation acquired during the previous OPV developments. In parallel to this sprint towards higher and higher performances, the PSCs offer a new battlefield for AFM to study the device photophysics. This contribution therefore report our recent nanoscale investigations on solution-processed perovskite solar cells.