Understanding the relationships between the local structures and physical properties of low-dimensional ferroelectrics is of both fundamental and practical importance. Here, pressure-induced enhancement in the photocurrent of SbSI is observed by using pressure to regulate the lone-pair electrons (LPEs). The reconfiguration of LPEs under pressure leads to the inversion symmetry broken in the crystal structure and an optimum bandgap according to the Shockley-Queisser limit. The increased polarization caused by the stereochemical expression of LPEs results in a significantly enhanced photocurrent at 14 GPa. Our research enriches the foundational understanding of structure-property relationships by regulating the stereochemical role of LPEs and offers a distinctive approach to the design of ferroelectric-photovoltaic materials.
Keywords: ferroelectric semiconductor; high pressure; lone-pair electrons; photocurrent.