skip to main content


Title: Composition gradient-enabled circular photogalvanic effect in inogranic halide perovskites
Inversion symmetry breaking could lead to the creation of a Rashba–Dresselhauls magnetic field, which plays the key role in spintronic devices. In this work, we propose and develop a composition gradient engineering approach that breaks inversion symmetry into inorganic halide perovskites with strong spin–orbit coupling. We synthesize epitaxial CsPbBr x Cl (3− x ) with Br/Cl composition gradient by a two-step chemical vapor deposition approach. Through optoelectronic measurements, we show the presence of circular photogalvanic effects (CPGEs), evidencing a Rashba-like spin polarized band structure. By spatially resolved photoluminescence spectra, we find that the observed CPGE is likely a cumulative result of inversion symmetry-broken interfaces featured by abrupt and stepwise composition gradient between the pristine and separated daughter phases. Our work suggests an avenue in engineering the spintronic property of halide perovskites for information processing.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2024972 2031692
NSF-PAR ID:
10351244
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Volume:
120
Issue:
21
ISSN:
0003-6951
Page Range / eLocation ID:
211901
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid metal halide perovskites have emerged as outstanding optoelectronic materials and are potential hosts of Rashba/Dresselhaus spin-splitting for spin-selective transport and spin-orbitronics. However, a quantitative microscopic understanding of what controls the spin-splitting magnitude is generally lacking. Through crystallographic and first-principles studies on a broad array of chiral and achiral 2D perovskites, we demonstrate that a specific bond angle disparity connected with asymmetric tilting distortions of the metal halide octahedra breaks local inversion symmetry and strongly correlates with computed spin-splitting. This distortion metric can serve as a crystallographic descriptor for rapid discovery of potential candidate materials with strong spin-splitting. Our work establishes that, rather than the global space group, local inorganic layer distortions induced via appropriate organic cations provide a key design objective to achieve strong spin-splitting in perovskites. New chiral perovskites reported here couple a sizeable spin-splitting with chiral degrees of freedom and offer a unique paradigm of potential interest for spintronics.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    The two-dimensional (2D) Ruddlesden−Popper organic-inorganic halide perovskites such as (2D)-phenethylammonium lead iodide (2D-PEPI) have layered structure that resembles multiple quantum wells (MQW). The heavy atoms in 2D-PEPI contribute a large spin-orbit coupling that influences the electronic band structure. Upon breaking the inversion symmetry, a spin splitting (‘Rashba splitting’) occurs in the electronic bands. We have studied the spin splitting in 2D-PEPI single crystals using the circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE). We confirm the existence of Rashba splitting at the electronic band extrema of 35±10 meV, and identify the main inversion symmetry breaking direction perpendicular to the MQW planes. The CPGE action spectrum above the bandgap reveals spin-polarized photocurrent generated by ultrafast relaxation of excited photocarriers separated in momentum space. Whereas the helicity dependent photocurrent with below-gap excitation is due to spin-galvanic effect of the ionized spin-polarized excitons, where spin polarization occurs in the spin-split bands due to asymmetric spin-flip.

     
    more » « less
  3. The strong spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in lead halide perovskites, when inversion symmetry is lifted, has provided opportunities for investigating the Rashba effect in these systems. Moreover, the strong orbital moment, which, in turn, impacts the spin-pair in singlet and triplet electronic states, plays a significant role in enhancing the optoelectronic properties in the presence of external magnetic fields in lead halide perovskites. Here, we investigate the effect of weak magnetic fields (<1 T) on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of [Formula: see text] nanocrystals with and without Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) faults and single crystals of [Formula: see text]. Along with an enhancement in the PL intensity as a function of an external magnetic field, which is observed in both lead bromide perovskites, the PL emission red-shifts in [Formula: see text] nanocrystals. Density-functional theory calculations of the electronic band-edge in [Formula: see text] show almost no change in the energy gap as a function of the external magnetic field. The experimental results, thus, suggest the role of mixing of the triplet and singlet excitonic states under weak magnetic fields. This is further deduced from an enhancement in PL lifetimes as a function of the field in [Formula: see text]. In [Formula: see text], an increase in PL intensity is observed under weak magnetic fields; however, no changes in the peak energy or PL lifetimes are observed. The internal magnetic fields due to SOC are characterized for all three samples and found to be the highest for [Formula: see text] nanocrystals with RP faults.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    In two-dimensional chiral metal-halide perovskites, chiral organic spacers endow structural and optical chirality to the metal-halide sublattice, enabling exquisite control of light, charge, and electron spin. The chiroptical properties of metal-halide perovskites have been measured by transmissive circular dichroism spectroscopy, which necessitates thin-film samples. Here, by developing a reflection-based approach, we characterize the intrinsic, circular polarization-dependent complex refractive index for a prototypical two-dimensional chiral lead-bromide perovskite and report large circular dichroism for single crystals. Comparison with ab initio theory reveals the large circular dichroism arises from the inorganic sublattice rather than the chiral ligand and is an excitonic phenomenon driven by electron-hole exchange interactions, which breaks the degeneracy of transitions between Rashba-Dresselhaus-split bands, resulting in a Cotton effect. Our study suggests that previous data for spin-coated films largely underestimate the optical chirality and provides quantitative insights into the intrinsic optical properties of chiral perovskites for chiroptical and spintronic applications.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    Despite their compositional versatility, most halide double perovskites feature large band gaps. Herein, we describe a strategy for achieving small band gaps in this family of materials. The new double perovskites Cs2AgTlX6(X=Cl (1) and Br (2)) have direct band gaps of 2.0 and 0.95 eV, respectively, which are approximately 1 eV lower than those of analogous perovskites. To our knowledge, compound2displays the lowest band gap for any known halide perovskite. Unlike in AIBIIX3perovskites, the band‐gap transition in AI2BB′X6double perovskites can show substantial metal‐to‐metal charge‐transfer character. This band‐edge orbital composition is used to achieve small band gaps through the selection of energetically aligned B‐ and B′‐site metal frontier orbitals. Calculations reveal a shallow, symmetry‐forbidden region at the band edges for1, which results in long (μs) microwave conductivity lifetimes. We further describe a facile self‐doping reaction in2through Br2loss at ambient conditions.

     
    more » « less