The complete phase diagram of organic-cation solid solutions of lead iodide perovskites [FA x MA 1−x PbI 3 , where MA stands for methylammonium, CH 3 NH 3 , and FA for formamidinium, CH(NH 2 ) 2 ] with compositions x ranging from 0 to 1 in steps of 0.1 was constructed in the temperature range from 10 to 365 K by combining Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The occurrence of phase transitions was inferred from both the temperature-induced changes in the optical emission energies and/or the phonon frequencies and line widths, complementing X-ray and neutron scattering literature data. For MA-rich perovskites (x ≤ 0.2), the same structural behavior as for MAPbI 3 was observed with decreasing temperature: cubic Pm3̅ m → tetragonal-I I4/mcm → orthorhombic Pnma. As the FA molecule is larger and more symmetric but less polar than MA, a tetragonal crystal structure is favored at low temperatures and FA compositions x > 0.4, to the detriment of the orthorhombic phase. As a consequence, with decreasing temperature, the phase transition sequence for FArich compounds is cubic Pm3̅ m → tetragonal-II P4/mbm → tetragonal-III. The latter presumably belongs to the P4bm symmetry group, according to neutron scattering data. Strikingly, the isostructural (tetragonal-totetragonal) transformation, which occurs between 200 and 150 K, exhibits a kind of critical point for x = 0.7. For intermediate FA contents, the perovskite solid solution transforms close to 250 K directly from the cubic phase to the tetragonal-III phase. The latter is characterized by a nonmonotonic dependence of the band-gap energy on temperature. We ascribe such behavior to a substantial tilting of the PbI 6 octahedra in the tetragonal-III phase. In this way, we established important links between crystal-phase stability and the electronic as well as vibrational properties of mixed organic-cation halide perovskites, which might impact the current search for more stable best-performing optoelectronic materials.
Lead halide perovskites, which are causing a paradigm shift in photovoltaics, exhibit an atypical temperature dependence of the fundamental gap: it decreases in energy with decreasing temperature. Reports ascribe such a behavior to a strong electron-phonon renormalization
The structural phase behavior of high-quality single crystals of methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3 or MAPbI3) was revisited by combining Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL) measurements under high hydrostatic pressure up to ca. 10 GPa. The single crystals were specially grown with the final thickness needed for pressure experiments, retaining their high quality due to a less invasive preparation procedure, which avoids sample thinning. Both PL and Raman spectra show simultaneous changes in their profiles that indicate the occurrence of three phase transitions subsequently at around 0.4, 2.7, and 3.3 GPa. At the second phase transition, the Raman spectra exhibit a pronounced reduction in the line width of the phonon modes of the inorganic cage, similar to the changes observed at the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic phase transition occurring at around 160 K but ambient pressure. This behavior is interpreted as evidence for the locking of the organic cations in the cage voids above 2.7 GPa due to the reduced volume and symmetry of the unit cell. At the third phase transition, reported here for the first time, the PL is greatly affected, whereas the Raman spectrum experiences only subtle changes related to a splitting of some of the peaks. This behavior may indicate a change mostly in the electronic structure with little effect on the crystal structure. Strikingly, the sharp Raman features observed at high pressures do not support amorphization of MAPbI3 with onset at 3 GPa, as claimed by most of the high-pressure (X-ray) literature. We interpret this apparent discrepancy in terms of the degree of disorder introduced at different length scales in the perovskite lattice by the pressure-induced freeze-out of the methylammonium cation motion.
The complex electron–phonon interaction occurring in bulk lead halide perovskites gives rise to anomalous temperature dependences, like the widening of the electronic band gap as temperature increases. However, possible confinement effects on the electron–phonon coupling in the nanocrystalline version of these materials remain unexplored. Herein, we study the temperature (ranging from 80 K to ambient) and hydrostatic pressure (from atmospheric to 0.6 GPa) dependence of the photoluminescence of ligand-free methylammonium lead triiodide nanocrystals with controlled sizes embedded in a porous silica matrix. This analysis allowed us to disentangle the effects of thermal expansion and electron–phonon interaction. As the crystallite size decreases, the electron–phonon contribution to the gap renormalization gains in importance. We provide a plausible explanation for this observation in terms of quantum confinement effects, showing that neither thermal expansion nor electron–phonon coupling effects may be disregarded when analyzing the temperature dependence of the optoelectronic properties of perovskite lead halide nanocrystals.
The high defect tolerance of metal halide perovskites, in terms of their exceptional optoelectronic properties, is assumed to be due to the very fact that most native point defects are shallow, which does not contribute to the non‐radiative recombination of free carriers. Here, a systematic study is presented, which concerns the evolution of shallow‐defect signatures observed at low temperatures in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of mixed organic‐cation lead iodide perovskite single crystals (FAxMA1−xPbI3, where MA stands for methylammonium and FA for formamidinium). Below ≈100 K, a number of peak‐like features become clearly apparent in the PL spectra at energies lower than the strong free‐exciton emission, which are related to the radiative recombination of bound exciton complexes associated with native shallow defects (donors and/or acceptors). Based on state‐of‐the‐art ab initio calculations, a tentative assignment is provided for all PL features to different shallow‐defects (Pb, I, and MA vacancies as well as I interstitials) typically present in hybrid perovskites. The defect‐related signatures exhibit a clear trend regarding the mixed‐crystal composition, indicating that the material becomes less prone to defect formation with increasing FA content.
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