Direct Observation of Dynamic Symmetry Breaking above Room Temperature in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite

Alexander N. Beecher; Octavi E. Semonin; Jonathan M. Skelton; Jarvist M. Frost; Maxwell W. Terban; Haowei Zhai; Ahmet Alatas; Jonathan S. Owen; Aron Walsh; Simon J.L. Billinge

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00381

Direct Observation of Dynamic Symmetry Breaking above Room Temperature in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite

Alexander N. Beecher, Octavi E. Semonin, Jonathan M. Skelton, Jarvist M. Frost, Maxwell W. Terban, Haowei Zhai, Ahmet Alatas, Jonathan S. Owen, Aron Walsh, Simon J.L. Billinge

Department of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

208 Scopus citations

Abstract

Lead halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead triiodide (CH₃NH₃PbI₃) have outstanding optical and electronic properties for photovoltaic applications, yet a full understanding of how this solution-processable material works so well is currently missing. Previous research has revealed that CH₃NH₃PbI₃ possesses multiple forms of static disorder regardless of preparation method, which is surprising in light of its excellent performance. Using high energy resolution inelastic X-ray (HERIX) scattering, we measure phonon dispersions in CH₃NH₃PbI₃ and find direct evidence for another form of disorder in single crystals: large-amplitude anharmonic zone edge rotational instabilities of the PbI₆ octahedra that persist to room temperature and above, left over from structural phase transitions that take place tens to hundreds of degrees below. Phonon calculations show that the orientations of the methylammonium (CH₃NH₃ ⁺) couple strongly and cooperatively to these modes. The result is a noncentrosymmetric, instantaneous local structure, which we observe in atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements. This local symmetry breaking is unobservable by Bragg diffraction but can explain key material properties such as the structural phase sequence, ultralow thermal transport, and large minority charge carrier lifetimes despite moderate carrier mobility. From the PDF we estimate the size of the fluctuating symmetry broken domains to be between 1 and 3 nm in diameter.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	880-887
Number of pages	8
Journal	ACS Energy Letters
Volume	1
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00381
State	Published - 14 Oct 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Work in the Billinge group was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation through Grant DMR-1534910. Growth and characterization of single crystals was supported by the Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids, an NSF MRSEC (Award Number DMR-1420634). This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. X-ray PDF measurements were conducted on beamline 28-ID-2 of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. The work at Bath has been supported by the EPSRC (Grant Nos. EP/L000202, EP/ M009580/1, EP/K016288/1, and EP/K004956/1), and Federico Brivio is thanked for preliminary phonon calculations. We are grateful to Soham Banerjee for assistance with PDF measurements and to Bogdan M. Leu, Daniel W. Paley, Ayman Said, John Tranquada, and Omer Yaffe for helpful conversations.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.

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10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00381

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@article{45de952c0ee04286a9b120740dc4085a,

title = "Direct Observation of Dynamic Symmetry Breaking above Room Temperature in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite",

abstract = "Lead halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) have outstanding optical and electronic properties for photovoltaic applications, yet a full understanding of how this solution-processable material works so well is currently missing. Previous research has revealed that CH3NH3PbI3 possesses multiple forms of static disorder regardless of preparation method, which is surprising in light of its excellent performance. Using high energy resolution inelastic X-ray (HERIX) scattering, we measure phonon dispersions in CH3NH3PbI3 and find direct evidence for another form of disorder in single crystals: large-amplitude anharmonic zone edge rotational instabilities of the PbI6 octahedra that persist to room temperature and above, left over from structural phase transitions that take place tens to hundreds of degrees below. Phonon calculations show that the orientations of the methylammonium (CH3NH3 +) couple strongly and cooperatively to these modes. The result is a noncentrosymmetric, instantaneous local structure, which we observe in atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements. This local symmetry breaking is unobservable by Bragg diffraction but can explain key material properties such as the structural phase sequence, ultralow thermal transport, and large minority charge carrier lifetimes despite moderate carrier mobility. From the PDF we estimate the size of the fluctuating symmetry broken domains to be between 1 and 3 nm in diameter.",

author = "Beecher, {Alexander N.} and Semonin, {Octavi E.} and Skelton, {Jonathan M.} and Frost, {Jarvist M.} and Terban, {Maxwell W.} and Haowei Zhai and Ahmet Alatas and Owen, {Jonathan S.} and Aron Walsh and Billinge, {Simon J.L.}",

note = "Funding Information: Work in the Billinge group was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation through Grant DMR-1534910. Growth and characterization of single crystals was supported by the Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids, an NSF MRSEC (Award Number DMR-1420634). This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. X-ray PDF measurements were conducted on beamline 28-ID-2 of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. The work at Bath has been supported by the EPSRC (Grant Nos. EP/L000202, EP/ M009580/1, EP/K016288/1, and EP/K004956/1), and Federico Brivio is thanked for preliminary phonon calculations. We are grateful to Soham Banerjee for assistance with PDF measurements and to Bogdan M. Leu, Daniel W. Paley, Ayman Said, John Tranquada, and Omer Yaffe for helpful conversations. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 American Chemical Society.",

year = "2016",

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doi = "10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00381",

language = "English",

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AU - Beecher, Alexander N.

AU - Semonin, Octavi E.

AU - Skelton, Jonathan M.

AU - Frost, Jarvist M.

AU - Terban, Maxwell W.

AU - Zhai, Haowei

AU - Alatas, Ahmet

AU - Owen, Jonathan S.

AU - Walsh, Aron

AU - Billinge, Simon J.L.

N1 - Funding Information: Work in the Billinge group was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation through Grant DMR-1534910. Growth and characterization of single crystals was supported by the Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids, an NSF MRSEC (Award Number DMR-1420634). This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. X-ray PDF measurements were conducted on beamline 28-ID-2 of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. The work at Bath has been supported by the EPSRC (Grant Nos. EP/L000202, EP/ M009580/1, EP/K016288/1, and EP/K004956/1), and Federico Brivio is thanked for preliminary phonon calculations. We are grateful to Soham Banerjee for assistance with PDF measurements and to Bogdan M. Leu, Daniel W. Paley, Ayman Said, John Tranquada, and Omer Yaffe for helpful conversations. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 American Chemical Society.

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N2 - Lead halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) have outstanding optical and electronic properties for photovoltaic applications, yet a full understanding of how this solution-processable material works so well is currently missing. Previous research has revealed that CH3NH3PbI3 possesses multiple forms of static disorder regardless of preparation method, which is surprising in light of its excellent performance. Using high energy resolution inelastic X-ray (HERIX) scattering, we measure phonon dispersions in CH3NH3PbI3 and find direct evidence for another form of disorder in single crystals: large-amplitude anharmonic zone edge rotational instabilities of the PbI6 octahedra that persist to room temperature and above, left over from structural phase transitions that take place tens to hundreds of degrees below. Phonon calculations show that the orientations of the methylammonium (CH3NH3 +) couple strongly and cooperatively to these modes. The result is a noncentrosymmetric, instantaneous local structure, which we observe in atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements. This local symmetry breaking is unobservable by Bragg diffraction but can explain key material properties such as the structural phase sequence, ultralow thermal transport, and large minority charge carrier lifetimes despite moderate carrier mobility. From the PDF we estimate the size of the fluctuating symmetry broken domains to be between 1 and 3 nm in diameter.

AB - Lead halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) have outstanding optical and electronic properties for photovoltaic applications, yet a full understanding of how this solution-processable material works so well is currently missing. Previous research has revealed that CH3NH3PbI3 possesses multiple forms of static disorder regardless of preparation method, which is surprising in light of its excellent performance. Using high energy resolution inelastic X-ray (HERIX) scattering, we measure phonon dispersions in CH3NH3PbI3 and find direct evidence for another form of disorder in single crystals: large-amplitude anharmonic zone edge rotational instabilities of the PbI6 octahedra that persist to room temperature and above, left over from structural phase transitions that take place tens to hundreds of degrees below. Phonon calculations show that the orientations of the methylammonium (CH3NH3 +) couple strongly and cooperatively to these modes. The result is a noncentrosymmetric, instantaneous local structure, which we observe in atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements. This local symmetry breaking is unobservable by Bragg diffraction but can explain key material properties such as the structural phase sequence, ultralow thermal transport, and large minority charge carrier lifetimes despite moderate carrier mobility. From the PDF we estimate the size of the fluctuating symmetry broken domains to be between 1 and 3 nm in diameter.

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Direct Observation of Dynamic Symmetry Breaking above Room Temperature in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite

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