Bulk quantum materials based on zero-dimensional (0D) lead-free organic tin halide perovskites have been developed for the first time, which give broadband Gaussian-shaped and strongly Stokes shifted emissions with quantum efficiencies of up to near-unity at room temperature due to excited state structural reorganization.
While metal-halide perovskites have recently revolutionized research in optoelectronics through a unique combination of performance and synthetic simplicity, their low-dimensional counterparts can further expand the field with hitherto unknown and pr
actically useful optical functionalities. In this context, we present the strong temperature dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) lifetime of low-dimensional, perovskite-like tin-halides, and apply this property to thermal imaging with a high precision of 0.05 {deg}C. The PL lifetimes are governed by the heat-assisted de-trapping of self-trapped excitons, and their values can be varied over several orders of magnitude by adjusting the temperature (up to 20 ns {deg}C-1). Typically, this sensitive range spans up to one hundred centigrade, and it is both compound-specific and shown to be compositionally and structurally tunable from -100 to 110 {deg} C going from [C(NH2)3]2SnBr4 to Cs4SnBr6 and (C4N2H14I)4SnI6. Finally, through the innovative implementation of cost-effective hardware for fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLI), based on time-of-flight (ToF) technology, these novel thermoluminophores have been used to record thermographic videos with high spatial and thermal resolution.
Metal-halide perovskites are promising materials for future optoelectronic applications. One intriguing property, important for many applications, is the tunability of the band gap via compositional engineering. While experimental reports on changes
in absorption or photoluminescence show rather good agreement for wide variety of compounds, the physical origins of these changes, namely the variations in valence band and conduction band positions, are not well characterized. Knowledge of these band positions is of importance for optimizing the energy level alignment with charge extraction layers in optoelectronic devices. Here, we determine ionization energy and electron affinity values of all primary tin and lead based perovskites using photoelectron spectroscopy data, supported by first-principles calculations. Through analysis of the chemical bonding, we characterize the key energy levels and elucidate their trends via a tight-binding analysis. We demonstrate that energy level variations in perovskites are primarily determined by the relative positions of the atomic energy levels of metal cations and halide anions. Secondary changes in the perovskite energy levels result from the cation-anion interaction strength, which depends on the volume and structural distortions of the perovskite lattices. These results mark a significant step towards understanding the electronic structure of this material class and provides the basis for rational design rules regarding the energetics in perovskite optoelectronics.
Third-generation photovoltaic (PV) materials combine many advantageous properties, including a high optical absorption together with a large charge carrier mobility, facilitated by small effective masses. Halide perovskites (ABX3, where X is I, Br or
Cl) appear to be the most promising third-generation PV materials at present. Their opto-electronic properties are governed by the B-X bond. A quantum-chemical bond analysis reveals that this bond differs significantly from ionic, metallic or covalent bonds. Instead, it is better regarded as metavalent, since it shares approximately one p-electron between adjacent atoms. The resulting sigma-bond is half-filled, which causes pronounced optical absorption. Electron transfer and lattice distortions open a moderate band gap, resulting in charge carriers with small effective masses. Hence metavalent bonding explains the favorable PV properties of halide perovskites. This is summarized in a map for different bond types, which provides a blueprint to design third-generation PV materials.
The recently emerged organohalide perovskites (e.g., CH3NH3PbI3) have drawn intense attention for high efficiency solar cells. However, with a considerable solubility in many solvents, these perovskites are not typically compatible with conventional
lithography processes for more complicated device fabrications that are important for both fundamental studies and technological applications. Here we report the creation of novel heterojunction devices based on perovskites and two-dimensional (2D) crystals by taking advantage of the layered characteristic of lead iodide (PbI2) and vapor phase intercalation. We show a graphene/perovskite/graphene vertical stack can deliver a highest photoresponsivity of ~950 A/W and photoconductive gain of ~2200, and a graphene/WSe2/perovskite/graphene heterojunction can display a high on/off ratio (~10^6) transistor behavior with distinct gate-tunable diode characteristics and open-circuit voltages. Such unique perovskite-2D heterostructures have significant potential for future optoelectronic research and can enable broad possibilities with compositional tunability of organohalide perovskites and the versatility offered by diverse 2D materials.
Perovskite solar cells have shown remarkable efficiencies beyond 22%, through organic and inorganic cation alloying. However, the role of alkali-metal cations is not well-understood. By using synchrotron-based nano-X-ray fluorescence and complementar
y measurements, we show that when adding RbI and/or CsI the halide distribution becomes homogenous. This homogenization translates into long-lived charge carrier decays, spatially homogenous carrier dynamics visualized by ultrafast microscopy, as well as improved photovoltaic device performance. We find that Rb and K phase-segregate in highly concentrated aggregates. Synchrotron-based X-ray-beam-induced current and electron-beam-induced current of solar cells show that Rb clusters do not contribute to the current and are recombination active. Our findings bring light to the beneficial effects of alkali metal halides in perovskites, and point at areas of weakness in the elemental composition of these complex perovskites, paving the way to improved performance in this rapidly growing family of materials for solar cell applications.