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Magnetic field effects in hybrid perovskite devices

Nature Physics volume 11, pages 427–434 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Magnetic field effects have been a successful tool for studying carrier dynamics in organic semiconductors as the weak spin–orbit coupling in these materials gives rise to long spin relaxation times. As the spin–orbit coupling is strong in organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites, which are promising materials for photovoltaic and light-emitting applications, magnetic field effects are expected to be negligible in these optoelectronic devices. We measured significant magneto-photocurrent, magneto-electroluminescence and magneto-photoluminescence responses in hybrid perovskite devices and thin films, where the amplitude and shape are correlated to each other through the electron–hole lifetime, which depends on the perovskite film morphology. We attribute these responses to magnetic-field-induced spin-mixing of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs with different g-factors—the Δg model. We validate this model by measuring large Δg (∼ 0.65) using field-induced circularly polarized photoluminescence, and electron–hole pair lifetime using picosecond pump–probe spectroscopy.

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Figure 1: Crystal structure and Δg spin-mixing mechanism for the MFEs in organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites.
Figure 2: Device performance, MPC(B) and MEL(B) responses measured using the CH3NH3PbI3−xClx photovoltaic device 2, and MPL(B) response in the pristine perovskite film.
Figure 3: Device performance and various MFE(B) responses measured using the CH3NH3PbI3−xClx device 4 and film, and compilation of various MFE responses of devices and films into a ‘universal plot’.
Figure 4: Field-induced circularly polarized PL emission from CH3NH3PbI3−xClx perovskite film at high field, B, and low temperatures.
Figure 5: Picosecond transient response of different CH3NH3PbI3−xClx films.

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Acknowledgements

The work at the University of Utah was supported by the Utah NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) program DMR 1121252 (MFE in devices); NSF grant no. 1404634 (MPL in materials with tuned SOC); and the AFOSR through a MURI grant RA 9550-14-1-0037 given to the University of Utah (picosecond and FICPO spectroscopies). At UT Dallas the work was supported by the Welch Foundation grant no. AT-1617 (photovoltaic device fabrication). We also acknowledge the Utah NSF-MRSEC for supporting the acquisition and development of the FICPO set-up as well as the glove-box/metal evaporation facility. C-X.S. acknowledges the partial support from the DOE (grant No. DE-FG02-04ER46109), and the overseas training program of Jiangsu, 863 Program of China No. 2011AA050520.

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Author notes

  1. C. Zhang, D. Sun and C-X. Sheng: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA

    C. Zhang, D. Sun, C-X. Sheng, Y. X. Zhai & Z. V. Vardeny

  2. School of Electronic and Optical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210094, China

    C-X. Sheng

  3. Department of Physics, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080, USA

    K. Mielczarek & A. Zakhidov

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Contributions

C.Z. and D.S. were responsible for the MFE measurements and writing the first draft; C.Z. and C-X.S. were responsible for the FICPO measurements; C-X.S. and Y.X.Z. were responsible for the picosecond transient dynamics measurements; K.M. and A.Z. were responsible for the perovskite photovoltaic cell fabrication and evaluation; Z.V.V. was responsible for project planning, group managing, and final draft writing.

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Correspondence to Z. V. Vardeny.

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Zhang, C., Sun, D., Sheng, CX. et al. Magnetic field effects in hybrid perovskite devices. Nature Phys 11, 427–434 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3277

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