Formation of Perovskite Heterostructures by Ion Exchange

Thin-film optoelectronic devices based on polycrystalline organolead-halide perovskites have recently become a topic of intense research. Single crystals of these materials have been grown from solution with electrical properties superior to those of polycrystalline films. In order to enable the development of more complex device architectures based on organolead-halide perovskite single crystals, we developed a process to form epitaxial layers of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) on methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr₃) single crystals. The formation of the MAPbI₃ layer is found to be dominated by the diffusion of halide ions, leading to a shift in the photoluminescence and absorption spectra. X-ray diffraction measurements confirm the single-crystal nature of the MAPbI₃ layer, while carrier transport measurements show that the converted layer retains the high carrier mobility typical of single-crystal perovskite materials. Such heterostructures on perovskite single crystals open possibilities for new types of devices.