A-Site Cation Effect on Growth Thermodynamics and Photoconductive Properties in Ultrapure Lead Iodine Perovskite Monocrystalline Wires

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Aug 9;9(31):25985-25994. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b05875. Epub 2017 Jul 25.

Abstract

Among the various building blocks beyond polycrystalline thin films, perovskite wires have attracted extensive attention for potential applications including nanolasers, waveguides, field-effect transistors, and more. In this work, millimeter-scale lead iodine-based perovskite wires employing various A-site substitutions, namely, Cs, methylammonium (MA), and formamidinium (FA), have been synthesized via a new type solution method with nearly 100% yield. All of the three millimeter scale perovskite wires (MPWs) compositions exhibit relatively high quality, and CsPbI3 is proven to be monocrystalline along its entire length. Furthermore, the growth thermodynamics of the APbI3 MPWs with respect to A-site cation effect were studied thoroughly by various characterization techniques. Finally, single MPW photodetectors have been fabricated utilizing the APbI3 MPWs for studying the photoconductive properties, which show different sensitivities under illumination. This systematic synthesis method of solution-processed APbI3 (Cs, MA, and FA) MPWs reveals a wide spectrum of additives with different coordination capability that mediates perovskite materials growth. It proved to serve as a new parameter that further aids in the rational process of the polycrystalline organic/inorganic hybrids materials. These MPWs also have the potential to open up new opportunities for integrated nanoelectronics ranging from the nanometer through millimeter length scales.

Keywords: monocrystalline; perovskite; photodetector; thermodynamics; wire.