Behavior of Methylammonium Dipoles in MAPbX(3) (X = Br and I)

Author(s)
Sharada Govinda, Bhushan P. Kore, Menno Bokdam, Pratibha Mahale, Abhinav Kumar, Somnath Pal, Biswajit Bhattacharyya, Jonathan Lahnsteiner, Georg Kresse, Cesare Franchini, Anshu Pandey, D. D. Sarma
Abstract

Dielectric constants of MAPbX

3 (X = Br, I) in the 1 kHz-1 MHz range show strong temperature dependence near room temperature, in contrast to the nearly temperature-independent dielectric constant of CsPbBr

3. This strong temperature dependence for MAPbX

3 in the tetragonal phase is attributed to the MA

+ dipoles rotating freely within the probing time scale. This interpretation is supported by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations on MAPbI

3 that establish these dipoles as randomly oriented with a rotational relaxation time scale of ∼7 ps at 300 K. Further, we probe the intriguing possibility of transient polarization of these dipoles following a photoexcitation process with important consequences on the photovoltaic efficiency, using a photoexcitation pump and second harmonic generation efficiency as a probe with delay times spanning 100 fs-1.8 ns. The absence of a second harmonic signal at any delay time rules out the possibility of any transient ferroelectric state under photoexcitation.

Organisation(s)
Computational Materials Physics
External organisation(s)
Indian Institute of Science
Journal
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume
8
Pages
4113-4121
No. of pages
9
ISSN
1948-7185
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b01740
Publication date
09-2017
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103025 Quantum mechanics, 103036 Theoretical physics, 103015 Condensed matter, 103009 Solid state physics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General Materials Science, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/0d633fe1-6825-474a-a82a-c9e479d194f0