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Nature Photonics volume 20, pages 178–185 (2026)
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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 23 January 2026
This article has been updated
Achieving uniform crystallization across both top and buried interfaces in perovskite films is crucial for unlocking their full photovoltaic potential, yet remains an unresolved challenge. The buried interface, in particular, suffers from poor crystallization relative to the top surface, resulting in suboptimal crystal quality and increased defect densities. Here we propose a one-step strategy to induce the spontaneous formation of near-phase-pure two-dimensional perovskites at the buried interface via the introduction of organic cation halide salts in the perovskite precursor solution. Single-crystal structure analysis highlights the pivotal role of molecular engineering in facilitating the spontaneous formation of buried two-dimensional perovskite phases. The low dipole moments and planar rigidity structures of organic spacers promote their aggregation at perovskite grain boundaries, followed by their migration to the film’s bottom interface. The two-dimensional perovskite layer simultaneously promotes uniform crystallization and efficient defect passivation at the buried interface, leading to a power conversion efficiency of 26.31% (certified 26.02%). Unencapsulated devices retain 95% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,000 hours of continuous illumination.
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All data are available in the article or its Supplementary Information. Additional information can be obtained from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. The X-ray crystallographic coordinates for the structures reported in this study have been deposited at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) under deposition numbers 2417858 and 2344072. These data can be obtained free of charge from the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre via www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/data_request/cif. Source data are provided with this paper.
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-026-01853-y
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Y.L. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant number 2024YFB4205201) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 22479121 and 52273182). We are thankful for the beam time provided by the 1W1A station (Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility) for GIWAXS characterization.
State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, the Centre of Nanoscale Science Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
Yuping Gao, Hang Liu, Zonglong Song, Yu Zou, Yongsheng Chen & Yongsheng Liu
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Yu Chen
Department of Microelectronic Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
Liu Yang & Ziyang Hu
Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin, China
Yongsheng Chen & Yongsheng Liu
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Y.G. and Y.L. conceived of the idea and designed the experiments. Y.G. carried out the fabrication, characterization and data collection of the perovskite films and devices. H.L. performed the density functional theory calculation of the organic spacers and supported the data analysis. Z.S. supported the device fabrication. Yu Chen supported the GIWAXS measurements. L.Y. and Z.H. contributed to the Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements. Y.Z. supported the visual representation of data. Y.G. wrote the first draft of the paper. Y.G. and Y.L. revised the paper. Yongsheng Chen and Y.L. supervised the whole project. All authors discussed the results and reviewed the paper.
Correspondence to Yongsheng Chen or Yongsheng Liu.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Photonics thanks Sang Il Seok, Christian Wolff and Zhigang Zang for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Figs. 1–30, Notes 1–11, Tables 1–4 and references.
GIXRD, PL and TRPL source data.
GIXRD and in situ GIWAXS source data.
Semi-in situ PL and binding energy source data.
Unprocessed J–V and MPP source data.
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Gao, Y., Liu, H., Song, Z. et al. Spontaneous 2D perovskite formation at the buried interface of perovskite solar cells enhances crystallization uniformity and defect passivation. Nat. Photon. 20, 178–185 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-025-01797-9
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