Triple-junction solar cells with improved carrier and photon management | Nature

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Sargent Authors Kerem Artuk View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Deniz Turkay View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Austin Kuba View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Stefan Riemelmoser View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Julian A. Steele View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Julien Hurni View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Joël Spitznagel View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Hugo Quest View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Michele De Bastiani View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Jun Zhao View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Jonas Diekmann View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Chiara Ongaro View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Mostafa Othman View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Maryamsadat Heydarian View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Oliver Fischer View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Huagui Lai View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Jonathan S. Austin View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Stefan Zeiske View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Rafael López-Arteaga View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Cheng Liu View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Mounir D. Mensi View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Andrés-Felipe Castro-Méndez View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Muzhi Li View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Thomas W.

## Article Content
Subjects
Electrical and electronic engineering
Solar cells
Abstract
Perovskite-silicon triple-junction photovoltaics offer efficiency gains beyond dual-junction devices, but at the expense of added complexity
(1)
. Here, we address two key bottlenecks in perovskite-silicon-based triple-junction solar cells: reduced open-circuit voltage in the wide-bandgap top-cell and limited photocurrent generation in the middle-cell
(1, 2)
. A non-volatile additive, 4-hydroxybenzylamine, regulates wide-bandgap perovskite crystallization and passivates defects, promoting oriented growth and suppressing non-radiative recombination. Together with improved energy-level alignment, this yields open-circuit voltages of up to 1.405 V and enhanced stability. To overcome the current limitations in the middle-cell, a three-step deposition strategy enables the formation of thick, low-bandgap perovskite absorbers while preserving microstructural integrity and enhancing electron extraction. In addition, low-refractive-index SiO
x
nanoparticles that accumulate in the front valleys of the textured silicon bottom-cell act as an optical middle-reflector, enhancing light absorption in the middle-cell. These advances are then combined in 1 cm² perovskite-perovskite-silicon devices, achieving a certified efficiency of 30.02%.
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Author information
Authors and Affiliations
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Electrical and Microengineering (IEM), Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Kerem Artuk, Deniz Turkay, Austin Kuba, Julien Hurni, Joël Spitznagel, Hugo Quest, Jonas Diekmann, Chiara Ongaro, Mostafa Othman, Hilal Aybike Can, Mohammad Reza Golobostanfard, Umang Desai, Paul Remondeau, Antonin Faes, Aïcha Hessler-Wyser, Christophe Ballif & Christian M. Wolff
Centre d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Kerem Artuk, Michele De Bastiani, Jun Zhao, Felipe Saenz, Lisa Champault, Antonin Faes, Quentin Jeangros & Christophe Ballif
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Chaire de Simulation à l′ Echelle Atomique (CSEA), Lausanne, Switzerland
Stefan Riemelmoser & Alfredo Pasquarello
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Julian A. Steele
School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Julian A. Steele
3S Swiss Solar Solutions AG, Gwatt (Thun), Switzerland
Hugo Quest
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Freiburg, Germany
Maryamsadat Heydarian, Oliver Fischer, Martin C. Schubert & Florian Schindler
Chair for Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering INATECH, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Oliver Fischer
Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
Huagui Lai, Jonathan S. Austin & Fan Fu
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Stefan Zeiske, Rafael López-Arteaga, Cheng Liu, Bin Chen & Edward H. Sargent
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL-VS), Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISICXRDSAP), Sion, Switzerland
Mounir D. Mensi
Physik und Optoelektronik weicher Materie, Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Andrés-Felipe Castro-Méndez & Felix Lang
Materials Science and Engineering, Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Muzhi Li & Nicholas Rolston
Young Investigator Group, Robotized Material and Photovoltaic Engineering, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB), Berlin, Germany
Thomas W. Gries, Siddha Hill & Artem Musiienko
CD-SWEET beamline ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
Eduardo Solano
Photophysics and OptoElectronics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Giuseppe Portale
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Edward H. Sargent
Authors
Kerem Artuk
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Deniz Turkay
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Austin Kuba
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## Expert Analysis

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### Implications
- Go to natureasia.com Rent or buy this article Prices vary by article type from $1.95 to $39.95 Learn more Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Author information Authors and Affiliations École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Electrical and Microengineering (IEM), Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory (PV-Lab), Neuchâtel, Switzerland Kerem Artuk, Deniz Turkay, Austin Kuba, Julien Hurni, Joël Spitznagel, Hugo Quest, Jonas Diekmann, Chiara Ongaro, Mostafa Othman, Hilal Aybike Can, Mohammad Reza Golobostanfard, Umang Desai, Paul Remondeau, Antonin Faes, Aïcha Hessler-Wyser, Christophe Ballif & Christian M.
- Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10385-y Download citation Received : 08 July 2025 Accepted : 10 March 2026 Published : 17 March 2026 DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10385-y Share this article Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers author, view, publications topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1278.