Electron-Rotor Interaction in Organic-Inorganic Lead Iodide Perovskites Discovered by Isotope Effects.

We report on the carrier-rotor coupling effect in perovskite organic-inorganic hybrid lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) compounds discovered by isotope effects. Deuterated organic-inorganic perovskite compounds including CH3ND3PbI3, CD3NH3PbI3, and CD3ND3PbI3 were synthesized. Devices made from regular CH3NH3PbI3 and deuterated CH3ND3PbI3 exhibit comparable performance in band gap, current-voltage, carrier mobility, and power conversion efficiency. However, a time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) study reveals that CH3NH3PbI3 exhibits notably longer carrier lifetime than that of CH3ND3PbI3, in both thin-film and single-crystal formats. Furthermore, the comparison in carrier lifetime between CD3NH3PbI3 and CH3ND3PbI3 single crystals suggests that vibrational modes in methylammonium (MA(+)) have little impact on carrier lifetime. In contrast, the fully deuterated compound CD3ND3PbI3 reconfirmed the trend of decreasing carrier lifetime upon the increasing moment of inertia of cationic MA(+). Polaron model elucidates the electron-rotor interaction.