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Point defects in metal halide perovskites

Nature Reviews Physics volume 7, pages 554–564 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Halide perovskites have exceptional optoelectronic properties, including low carrier recombination rates; however, their stability remains a challenge. Point defects play a crucial role in determining their physical characteristics, as they affect carrier dynamics and serve as the initiation sites for various ion migration processes. In the past five years, advances in computational methodologies have deepened the understanding of defect behaviour in these materials. In this Review, we focus on the role of point defects in metal halide perovskites, their impact on carrier dynamics, and ion-migration-related behaviours, and we discuss new understandings of defect tolerance.

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Fig. 1: Point defects and their impact on carrier dynamics in metal halide perovskites.
Fig. 2: Understanding of defect tolerance.
Fig. 3: Point defect-mediated ion migrations.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFF0500501) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22279053).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Nuo Xu, Xinrui Qi, Lianghe Hu, Bing Wang & Zhigang Zou

  2. College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Zhenqiang Shen & Zhigang Zou

  3. Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Fabrication and Application of Advanced Photovoltaic Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, NingboTech University, Ningbo, China

    Jun Lv & Yufei Zhong

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N.X. conceived the topic, conducted the literature investigation and drafted the manuscript. B.W. provided supervision and validation. All authors contributed to reviewing the manuscript and providing suggestions.

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Xu, N., Qi, X., Shen, Z. et al. Point defects in metal halide perovskites. Nat Rev Phys 7, 554–564 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-025-00861-1

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