Publication date: 8th June 2021
Cesium lead halides exhibit diverse bonding nature with covalent PbX64- anions and Cs+ cations. These ions' low charge density renders the crystals unstable, enabling the conversion between related perovskites and non-perovskites phases.1 Such instability can be problematic for some applications like photovoltaics and detectors where the perovskites are exposed to high energy densities, but is this always a disadvantage?
Our most recent work shows how CsPbBr3 converts to Cs4PbBr6 upon heating up with PbS producing PbS-Cs4PbBr6 nanocomposites. The byproduct of the transformation, PbBr2, dissolves in the PbS matrix, increasing the carrier concentration and inducing grain growth. In this presentation, we provide evidence of the chemical transformation using temperature-dependent in-situ X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, by controlling the amount of CsPbBr3, we tune the charge carrier density between 1019 and 1020 cm-3. Such heavily doped nanocomposites have potential applications in thermoelectrics and optoelectronic devices. Furthermore, this doping strategy is not limited to cesium lead halides and could be applied to other unstable crystal phases.