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Multifaceted nature of defect tolerance in halide perovskites and emerging semiconductors

Nature Reviews Chemistry volume 9, pages 287–304 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lead halide perovskites (LHPs) have shot to prominence as efficient energy-conversion materials that can be processed using cost-effective fabrication methods. A reason for their exceptional performance is their crystallographic defect tolerance, enabling long charge-carrier lifetimes despite high defect densities. Achieving defect tolerance in broader classes of materials would impact on the semiconductor industry substantially. Considerable efforts have been made to understand the origins of defect tolerance, so as to design stable and nontoxic alternatives to LHPs. However, understanding defect tolerance in LHPs is far from straightforward. This Review discusses the models proposed for defect tolerance in halide perovskites, evaluating the experimental and theoretical support for these models, as well as their limitations. We also cover attempts to apply these models to identify materials beyond LHPs that could exhibit defect tolerance. Finally, we discuss the experimental methods used to understand defects in mixed ionic–electronic conductors, as well as the important information that is necessary for a deeper understanding, in order to develop improved models that enable the design of defect-tolerant semiconductors.

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Fig. 1: Impact of defect tolerance on the performance of solar absorbers.
Fig. 2: Models for defect tolerance in lead halide perovskites.
Fig. 3: Progress of perovskite-inspired materials as solar absorbers.
Fig. 4: Performance bottlenecks in emerging perovskite-inspired materials.
Fig. 5: Emerging techniques to characterize point defects.

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Acknowledgements

Y.-T.H. and H.L. arranged alphabetically by surname in the author list. I.M.-L. acknowledges Imperial College London for funding from a President’s PhD scholarship. R.L.Z.H., H.L. and J.Y. acknowledge support from a UK Research and Innovation Frontier Grant (grant no. EP/X029900/1), awarded through the European Research Council Starting Grant 2021 scheme. H.L. thanks the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford for a studentship. R.L.Z.H. and Y.-T.H. thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, grant no. EP/V014498/2) for financial support. A.W. is supported by EPSRC project no. EP/X037754/1. R.L.Z.H. thanks the Royal Academy of Engineering and Science & Technology Facilities Council for financial support through the Senior Research Fellowships scheme (grant no. RCSRF2324-18-68).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Irea Mosquera-Lois, Yi-Teng Huang, Hugh Lohan.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Irea Mosquera-Lois, Hugh Lohan & Aron Walsh

  2. Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Yi-Teng Huang, Hugh Lohan, Junzhi Ye & Robert L. Z. Hoye

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  1. Irea Mosquera-Lois
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  2. Yi-Teng Huang
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  3. Hugh Lohan
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  6. Robert L. Z. Hoye
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Contributions

R.L.Z.H. and A.W. conceived of the idea for this Review and drafted the proposal, with support from the other authors. R.L.Z.H. wrote the introduction, Box 1 and Box 3, the Defining defect tolerance section, drafted the Conclusions and outlook, contributed to Fig. 1, and prepared Fig. 5. I.M.-L. and A.W. wrote the models for defect tolerance in LHPs, prepared Box 2, and contributed to Figs. 1 and 2. J.Y. wrote the Polaronic model sub-section in the main discussion and outlook section, contributed to Fig. 2, and also wrote the section on defect characterization with R.L.Z.H. H.L. prepared Fig. 3, and the discussion around it, whereas Y.-T.H. prepared Fig. 4 and the associated discussion. All authors edited and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aron Walsh or Robert L. Z. Hoye.

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Mosquera-Lois, I., Huang, YT., Lohan, H. et al. Multifaceted nature of defect tolerance in halide perovskites and emerging semiconductors. Nat Rev Chem 9, 287–304 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00702-w

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