New way found to control light emitted from hybrid perovskites
Hybrid perovskites, built from interlocking layers of organic and inorganic materials, are increasingly popular for next generation solar cells. The team at Rutgers University found a new way to control the light emitted when perovskites are excited by a laser. The intensity of light emitted by a hybrid perovskite crystal can be increased by up to 100 times simply by adjusting voltage applied to an electrode on the crystal surface.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the photoluminescence of a material has been reversibly controlled to such a wide degree with voltage,” said Vitaly Podzorov, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “Previously, to change the intensity of photoluminescence, you had to change the temperature or apply enormous pressure to a crystal, which was cumbersome and costly. We can do it simply within a small electronic device at room temperature.”
Defects in crystals reduce the emission of light and applying voltage restores the intensity of photoluminescence. Hybrid perovskites are more efficient and much easier and cheaper to make than standard commercial silicon-based solar cells, and the study could help lead to their widespread use, Podzorov said.
An important next step would be to investigate different types of perovskite materials, which may lead to better and more efficient materials in which photoluminescence can be controlled in a wider range of intensities or with smaller voltage, he said.
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