Visualization and Studies of Ion-Diffusion Kinetics in Cesium Lead Bromide Perovskite Nanowires.

The facile chemical transformation of metal halide perovskites via ion exchange has been attributed to their "soft" crystal lattices that enable fast ion migration. Kinetic studies of such processes could provide mechanistic insights on the ion migration dynamics. Herein, by using aligned single-crystal nanowires of cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) perovskite on epitaxial substrates as platforms, we visualize and investigate the cation or anion interdiffusion kinetics via spatially resolved photoluminescence measurement on heterostructures fabricated by stacking CsPbCl3, MAPbI3, or MAPbBr3 microplates on top of CsPbBr3 nanowires. Time-dependent confocal photoluminescence microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed the solid-state anion interdiffusion readily occurs to result in halide concentration gradients along CsPbBr3-3 xCl3 x ( x = 0-1) nanowires. Quantitative analysis of such composition profiles using Fick's law allowed us, for the first time, to extract interdiffusion coefficients of the chloride-bromide couple and an activation energy of 0.44 ± 0.02 eV for ion diffusion from temperature-dependent studies. In contrast, iodide-bromide interdiffusion is limited, likely due to the complex phase behaviors of mixed alloys of CsPb(Br,I)3. In contrast to the relatively mobile anions, A-site cation interdiffusion across the MAPbBr3/CsPbBr3 junctions was barely observed at room temperature. Our results present a general method to investigate the kinetics of the solid-state ion migration, and the gained insights on ion diffusion can provide guidelines for rationally designing perovskite heterostructures that could lead to new properties for fundamental studies and technological applications.

Communication: Multidimensional triple sum-frequency spectroscopy of MoS2 and comparisons with absorption and second harmonic generation spectroscopies.

Triple sum-frequency (TSF) spectroscopy is a recently developed methodology that enables collection of multidimensional spectra by resonantly exciting multiple quantum coherences of vibrational and electronic states. This work reports the first application of TSF to the electronic states of semiconductors. Two independently tunable ultrafast pulses excite the A, B, and C features of a MoS2 thin film. The measured TSF spectrum differs markedly from absorption and second harmonic generation spectra. The differences arise because of the relative importance of transition moments and the joint density of states (JDOS). We develop a simple model and globally fit the absorption and harmonic generation spectra to extract the JDOS and the transition moments from these spectra. Our results validate previous assignments of the C feature to a large JDOS created by band nesting.

Single-Crystal Thin Films of Cesium Lead Bromide Perovskite Epitaxially Grown on Metal Oxide Perovskite (SrTiO3).

High-quality metal halide perovskite single crystals have low defect densities and excellent photophysical properties, yet thin films are the most sought after material geometry for optoelectronic devices. Perovskite single-crystal thin films (SCTFs) would be highly desirable for high-performance devices, but their growth remains challenging, particularly for inorganic metal halide perovskites. Herein, we report the facile vapor-phase epitaxial growth of cesium lead bromide perovskite (CsPbBr3) continuous SCTFs with controllable micrometer thickness, as well as nanoplate arrays, on traditional oxide perovskite SrTiO3(100) substrates. Heteroepitaxial single-crystal growth is enabled by the serendipitous incommensurate lattice match between these two perovskites, and overcoming the limitation of island-forming Volmer-Weber crystal growth is critical for growing large-area continuous thin films. Time-resolved photoluminescence, transient reflection spectroscopy, and electrical transport measurements show that the CsPbBr3 epitaxial thin film has a slow charge carrier recombination rate, low surface recombination velocity (104 cm s-1), and low defect density of 1012 cm-3, which are comparable to those of CsPbBr3 single crystals. This work suggests a general approach using oxide perovskites as substrates for heteroepitaxial growth of halide perovskites. The high-quality halide perovskite SCTFs epitaxially integrated with multifunctional oxide perovskites could open up opportunities for a variety of high-performance optoelectronics devices.

Ionization of high-density deep donor defect states explains the low photovoltage of iron pyrite single crystals.

Iron pyrite (FeS2) is considered a promising earth-abundant semiconductor for solar energy conversion with the potential to achieve terawatt-scale deployment. However, despite extensive efforts and progress, the solar conversion efficiency of iron pyrite remains below 3%, primarily due to a low open circuit voltage (VOC). Here we report a comprehensive investigation on {100}-faceted n-type iron pyrite single crystals to understand its puzzling low VOC. We utilized electrical transport, optical spectroscopy, surface photovoltage, photoelectrochemical measurements in aqueous and acetonitrile electrolytes, UV and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Kelvin force microscopy to characterize the bulk and surface defect states and their influence on the semiconducting properties and solar conversion efficiency of iron pyrite single crystals. These insights were used to develop a circuit model analysis for the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy that allowed a complete characterization of the bulk and surface defect states and the construction of a detailed energy band diagram for iron pyrite crystals. A holistic evaluation revealed that the high-density of intrinsic surface states cannot satisfactorily explain the low photovoltage; instead, the ionization of high-density bulk deep donor states, likely resulting from bulk sulfur vacancies, creates a nonconstant charge distribution and a very narrow surface space charge region that limits the total barrier height, thus satisfactorily explaining the limited photovoltage and poor photoconversion efficiency of iron pyrite single crystals. These findings lead to suggestions to improve single crystal pyrite and nanocrystalline or polycrystalline pyrite films for successful solar applications.

Basal-Plane Ligand Functionalization on Semiconducting 2H-MoS2 Monolayers.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a two-dimensional material promising for electronic, optical, and catalytic applications. To fully harness its potential, functionalization is essential to controlling its properties. However, MoS2 functionalization has been mostly limited to either 1T-phase MoS2 or the edges of 2H-phase MoS2, and the chemistry of covalent functionalization on the basal plane of 2H-MoS2 is poorly understood. Here, we report a facile approach to covalently functionalize chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown 2H-MoS2 monolayers (MLs), as well as mechanically exfoliated MoS2, via thiol conjugation at sulfur vacancies on the basal plane. Thorough characterization confirmed the functionalization by thiol molecules on MoS2 MLs, and we experimentally proved that sulfur vacancies in MoS2 MLs play a key role in the functionalization of basal planes. By the controlling of the amount of sulfur vacancies via sulfur annealing, the degree of MoS2 functionalization was effectively tuned. Because thiol conjugation partially repairs or passivates sulfur vacancies, enhanced photoluminescence response and decreased active sites for hydrogen evolution catalysis were observed for functionalized MoS2. Moreover, such functionalization can be utilized for making MoS2-based heterostructures, an example of which was demonstrated using a dithiol molecule to link MoS2 layers and PbSe quantum dots. These results provide new understanding and insights on the surface chemistry of MoS2 and open up more opportunities for MoS2 MLs with well-controlled properties and broader applications.

Measurement of Ultrafast Excitonic Dynamics of Few-Layer MoS2 Using State-Selective Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy.

We report the first coherent multidimensional spectroscopy study of a MoS2 film. A four-layer sample of MoS2 was synthesized on a silica substrate by a simplified sulfidation reaction and characterized by absorption and Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. State-selective coherent multidimensional spectroscopy (CMDS) on the as-prepared MoS2 film resolved the dynamics of a series of diagonal and cross-peak features involving the spin-orbit split A and B excitonic states and continuum states. The spectra are characterized by striped features that are similar to those observed in CMDS studies of quantum wells where the continuum states contribute strongly to the initial excitation of both the diagonal and cross-peak features, while the A and B excitonic states contributed strongly to the final output signal. The strong contribution from the continuum states to the initial excitation shows that the continuum states are coupled to the A and B excitonic states and that fast intraband relaxation is occurring on a sub-70 fs time scale. A comparison of the CMDS excitation signal and the absorption spectrum shows that the relative importance of the continuum states is determined primarily by their absorption strength. Diagonal and cross-peak features decay with a 680 fs time constant characteristic of exciton recombination and/or trapping. The short time dynamics are complicated by coherent and partially coherent pathways that become important when the excitation pulses are temporally overlapped. In this region, the coherent dynamics create diagonal features involving both the excitonic states and continuum states, while the partially coherent pathways contribute to cross-peak features.