No Arabic abstract
The bandgap tunability of mixed-halide perovskites makes them promising candidates for light emitting diodes and tandem solar cells. However, illuminating mixed-halide perovskites results in the formation of segregated phases enriched in a single-halide. This segregation occurs through ion migration, which is also observed in single-halide compositions, and whose control is thus essential to enhance the lifetime and stability. Using pressure-dependent transient absorption spectroscopy, we find that the formation rates of both iodide- and bromide-rich phases in MAPb(BrxI1-x)3 reduce by two orders of magnitude on increasing the pressure to 0.3 GPa. We explain this reduction from a compression-induced increase of the activation energy for halide migration, which is supported by first-principle calculations. A similar mechanism occurs when the unit cell volume is reduced by incorporating a smaller cation. These findings reveal that stability with respect to halide segregation can be achieved either physically through compressive stress or chemically through compositional engineering.
Mixing iodide and bromide in halide perovskite semiconductors is an effective strategy to tune their bandgap, therefore mixed-halide perovskites hold great promise for color-tunable LEDs and tandem solar cells. However, the bandgap of mixed-halide perovskites is unstable under (sun-)light, since the halides segregate into domains of different bandgaps. Using pressure-dependent ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, we show that high external pressure increases the range of thermodynamically stable halide mixing ratios. Chemical pressure, by inserting a smaller cation, has the same effect, which means that any iodide-to-bromide ratio can be thermodynamically stabilized by tuning the crystal volume and compressibility. We interpret this stabilization by an alteration of the Helmholtz free energy via the largely overlooked PdeltaV term.
In recent years, metal halide perovskites have generated tremendous interest for optoelectronic applications and their underlying fundamental properties. Due to the large electron-phonon coupling characteristic of soft lattices, self-trapping phenomena are expected to dominate hybrid perovskite photoexcitation dynamics. Yet, while the photogeneration of small polarons was proven in low dimensional perovskites, the nature of polaron excitations in technologically relevant 3D perovskites, and their influence on charge carrier transport, remain elusive. In this study, we used a combination of first principle calculations and advanced spectroscopy techniques spanning the entire optical frequency range to pin down polaron features in 3D metal halide perovskites. Mid-infrared photoinduced absorption shows the photogeneration of states associated to low energy intragap electronic transitions with lifetime up to the ms time scale, and vibrational mode renormalization in both frequency and amplitude. Density functional theory supports the assignment of the spectroscopic features to large polarons leading to new intra gap transitions, hardening of phonon mode frequency, and renormalization of the oscillator strength. Theory provides quantitative estimates of the charge carrier masses and mobilities increase upon polaron formation, confirming experimental results. Overall, this work contributes to complete the scenario of elementary photoexcitations in metal halide perovskites and highlights the importance of polaronic transport in perovskite-based optoelectronic devices.
The paper presents the results of measurements of XPS valence band spectra of SiO2/MAPbI3 hybrid perovskites subjected to irradiation with visible light and annealing at an exposure of 0-1000 hours. It is found from XPS survey spectra that in both cases (irradiation and annealing) a decrease in the I:Pb ratio is observed with aging time, which unambiguously indicates PbI2 phase separation as a photo and thermal product of degradation. The comparison of the XPS valence band spectra of irradiated and annealed perovskites with density functional theory calculations of the MAPbI3 and PbI2 compounds have shown a systematic decrease in the contribution of I 5p-states and allowed us to determine the threshold for degradation, which is 500 hours for light irradiation and 200 hours for annealing.
Two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites feature a versatile structure, which not only enables the fine-tuning of their optoelectronic properties but also makes them appealing as model systems to investigate the fundamental properties of hybrid perovskites. In this study, we analyzed the changes in the optical absorption of 2D Dion-Jacobson mixed halide perovskite thin films (encapsulated) based on (PDMA)Pb(I0.5Br0.5)4 (PDMA: 1,4-phenylenedimethanammonium spacer) exposed to a constant illumination. We demonstrate that these 2D mixed-halide perovskites undergo photo de-mixing with direct transformation from the pristine phase to the de-mixed phases. Almost complete re-mixing of these phases occurs when the sample is left in the dark, showing that the process is reversible in terms of optical properties. On the other hand, exposure to light appears to induce structural changes in the thin film that are not reversible in the dark. We have further investigated temperature-dependent absorption measurements under light to extract the photo de-mixed compositions and to map the photo-miscibility-gap. This work thereby reveals that photo de-mixing occurs in Dion-Jacobson two-dimensional hybrid perovskites and provides strategies to address the role of light in the thermodynamic properties of these materials.
Lead halide perovskites are a remarkable class of materials that have emerged over the past decade as being suitable for application in a broad range of devices, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes, lasers, transistors, and memory devices, among others. While they are often solution-processed semiconductors deposited at low temperatures, perovskites exhibit properties one would only expect from highly pure inorganic crystals that are grown at high temperatures. This unique phenomenon has resulted in fast-paced progress toward record device performance; unfortunately, the basic science behind the remarkable nature of these materials is still not well understood. This review assesses the current understanding of the photoluminescence (PL) properties of metal halide perovskite materials and highlights key areas that require further research. Furthermore, the need to standardize the methods for characterization of PL in order to improve comparability, reliability and reproducibility of results is emphasized.