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Utilizing first-principles calculations, this study explores the physical characteristics of K2BGaI6 (B = Tl, Rb) double perovskites with the objective of gaining a deeper understanding of their viability for renewable applications. In evaluating the phase stability, we calculated the formation enthalpies, tolerance factor and optimization energies, demonstrating that both compounds exhibit stability and are conducive to experimental synthesis. The semiconducting nature of perovskites is manifested through an energy gap, with values of 1.11 eV at (L–X) for K2TlGaI6 and 1.2 eV at (L–L) for K2RbGaI6, which is also reflected from density of states. Both perovskites display ductile characteristics, but the hardness factor indicates greater strength for K2RbGaI6. The Kleinman parameter value for K2RbGaI6 and K2TlGaI6 indicates a prevalence of bond stretching. The Debye and melting temperatures of K2RbGaI6 surpass that of K2TlGaI6. The assessment of optical response involves examining various parameters that reveal absorption in both the visible and UV regions. The thermoelectric response is gauged by examining prominent values in electrical conductivity, Seebeck, and ZT parameters at high elevated temperatures. The collective findings favor the utilization of K2BGaI6 (B = Tl, Rb) perovskites in environmentally friendly technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perovskite crystals formed by methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) have garnered growing interest owing to their exceptional photovoltaic capabilities, economical production process, and ability to be processed in solution. A multitude of techniques have been devised to produce dense and uniform perovskite thin coatings, which are critical for the proper functioning of electronic devices. In order to promote the development of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite thin films that are uniform, dense, and exceptionally smooth, we present an additive-assisted method utilizing Copper zinc tin sulfide Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles. The surface, optical, morphological, and structural properties were subsequently determined. The mechanisms by which the additive improves the quality of the material during the formation of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite films are elucidated in this study. These processes are postulated to characterize the crystallization of the films. Using this beneficial technique, a high-quality CH3NH3PbI3 film with a grain size significantly larger than 1.6 μm was effectively manufactured. Additionally, the doping process resulted in enhancements in both absorption and photoluminescence intensity. The addition of CZTS NPs elevated the crystal structures and morphologies of the CH3NH3PbI3 layer to a degree that was comparatively favorable. This was evidenced by the crystallite size of 83 nm and an optical bandgap (Eg) of 1.63 eV, both of which attest to the enhanced quality of the film. With the structure of glass/FTO/TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3:CZTS NPs/spiro-oMeTAD/Au ,the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the best cell was 15.13% with a fill factor of 66.07%. The results of this study indicate that doping CH3NH3PbI3 solar cells with CZTS NPs is a dependable method for enhancing photovoltaic performance and promoting crystal growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide perovskite materials have received significant attention of researchers in various applications, such as solar cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and particularly sensors. In this study, CsPbBr3/p-Si heterojunction thin film was successfully fabricates by facile thermal evaporation, and comprehensively investigates the impact of gamma irradiation (0 to 75 kGy) on the structural, morphological, optical, and I-V characteristics. The structural parameters measured via XRD confirm the formation of orthorhombic phase, and the crystallite size increases while micro-strain decreases with increasing irradiation. FE-SEM experiments reveal a CsPbBr3 thin-film cross section of approximately 233 nm and confirm the variation in grain size with irradiation, and EDX analyses confirm the purity and quality of the thin film. From optical perspective, a notable decline in the energy bandgap from 2.38 eV to 2.20 eV was observed with increasing irradiation dose, which is caused by the increase in crystallite size and formation of defects. Furthermore, current–voltage (I-V) measurements suggest an increase in the saturation current, whereas the ideality factor, barrier height, and series resistance exhibit a diminishing trend with increasing gamma exposure. The gamma-induced structural defects significantly influenced CsPbBr3/p-Si heterojunction thin film characteristics, highlighting its potential for advanced sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the optoelectronic properties of cubic (Pm3m) and orthorhombic (Pnma) CsPbX3 (X = I, Br, and Cl). We utilized the full potential linear augmented plane wave method, which is implemented in the WIEN2k code, to facilitate the investigation. Different exchange potentials were used to analyze the optoelectronic behavior using the available density functional theory methods. Our findings revealed that CsPbX3 perovskites display direct band gaps at the R and Г points for cubic (Pm3m) and orthorhombic (Pnma) structures, respectively. Among the exchange potentials, the mBJ-GGA method provided the most accurate results. These outcomes concurred with the experimental results. In both Pm3m and Pnma structures, interesting changes were observed when iodide (I) was replaced with bromine (Br) and then chlorine (Cl). The direct band gap at the R and Г points shifted to higher energy levels. Similarly, when I was replaced with Br and Cl, there was a noticeable decrease in the absorption coefficient, dielectric constants, refractive index, and reflectivity, in addition to a band gap shift to higher energy levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classical light interactions of nanosilicon, which is a dielectric material, are exceedingly weak for radius r ≪ λ (wavelength), scaling as r6. It exhibits geometrical anisotropy-based depolarization, which is the basis for the very weak response in isotropic structures (nanosphere). Recently, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in DNA decorated with ultrasmall Si nanoparticles has been demonstrated, affording an effective alternative to plasmon–metal particles. In this paper, we execute fundamental quantum atomistic computation of 1 nm hydrogenated Si particles, with different surface reconstruction and termination, including Si–H, H–Si–Si–H (dimer molecules), or oxygenated dimer bridges (H–Si–O–Si–H). We obtain the mechanical vibrational modes of the particles. Our results show that by changing the surface configuration one can control the symmetry and normal vibration modes, and enhance the polarizability, polarity, and light interactions (scattering, absorption, and depolarization/memory). The low frequency polarizability (Raman scattering) shifts spatially from the interior to the surface, while the infrared polarity remains on the surface, but its bandwidth narrows spectrally. The results support previous infrared absorption and light scattering and depolarization measurements, as well recent SERS, which enable Si nanoparticles to be an effective alternative to plasmonic metal particles. Molecular surface reconstruction in terms of Si dimers and bridges were suggested as the source of the novel nonlinear and anisotropic luminescence and photonic properties of Si nanoparticles. Such control affords potential for optimizing the design and operation of a wide range of opto-electronic advanced scattering and luminescence devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite-type lead halides exhibit promising performances in optoelectronic applications, for which lasers are one of the most promising applications. Although the bulk structure has some advantages, perovskite has additional advantages at the nanoscale owing to its high crystallinity given by a lower trap density. Although the nanoscale can produce efficient light emission, its comparatively poor chemical and colloidal stability limits further development of devices based on this material. Nevertheless, bulk perovskites are promising as optical amplifiers. There has been some developmental progress in the study of optical response and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) as a benchmark for perovskite bulk phase laser applications. Therefore, to achieve high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) and large optical gains, material development is essential. One of the aspects in which these goals can be achieved is the incorporation of a bulk structure of high-quality crystallization films based on inorganic perovskite, such as cesium lead halide (CsPb(Br/Cl)3), in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymer and encapsulation with the optimal thickness of the polymer to achieve complete surface coverage, prevent degradation, surface states, and surface defects, and suppress emission at depth. Sequential evaporation of the perovskite precursors using a single-source thermal evaporation technique (TET) effectively deposited two layers. The PL and ASEs of the bare and modified films with a thickness of 400 nm PMMA were demonstrated. The encapsulation layer maintained the quantum yield of the perovskite layer in the air for more than two years while providing added optical gain compared to the bare film. Under a picosecond pulse laser, the PL wavelength of single excitons and ASE wavelength associated with the stimulated decay of bi-excitons were achieved. The two ASE bands were highly correlated and competed with each other; they were classified as exciton and bi-exciton recombination, respectively. According to the ASE results, bi-exciton emission could be observed in an ultrastable CsPb(Br/Cl)3 film modified by PMMA with a very low excitation energy density of 110 µJ/cm2. Compared with the bare film, the ASE threshold was lowered by approximately 5%. A bi-exciton has a binding energy (26.78 meV) smaller than the binding energy of the exciton (70.20 meV). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of nanocrystals (NCs) from metal oxide-based substrates with exposed high-energy facets is of particular importance for many important applications, such as solar cells as photoanodes due to the high reactivity of these facets. The hydrothermal method remains a current trend for the synthesis of metal oxide nanostructures in general and titanium dioxide (TiO2) in particular since the calcination of the resulting powder after the completion of the hydrothermal method no longer requires a high temperature. This work aims to use a rapid hydrothermal method to synthesize numerous TiO2-NCs, namely, TiO2 nanosheets (TiO2-NSs), TiO2 nanorods (TiO2-NRs), and nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs). In these ideas, a simple non-aqueous one-pot solvothermal method was employed to prepare TiO2-NSs using tetrabutyl titanate Ti(OBu)4 as a precursor and hydrofluoric acid (HF) as a morphology control agent. Ti(OBu)4 alone was subjected to alcoholysis in ethanol, yielding only pure nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs). Subsequently, in this work, the hazardous chemical HF was replaced by sodium fluoride (NaF) as a means of controlling morphology to produce TiO2-NRs. The latter method was required for the growth of high purity brookite TiO2 NRs structure, the most difficult TiO2 polymorph to synthesize. The fabricated components are then morphologically evaluated using equipment, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron diffraction (SAED), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In the results, the TEM image of the developed NCs shows the presence of TiO2-NSs with an average side length of about 20–30 nm and a thickness of 5–7 nm. In addition, the image TEM shows TiO2-NRs with diameters between 10 and 20 nm and lengths between 80 and 100 nm, together with crystals of smaller size. The phase of the crystals is good, confirmed by XRD. The anatase structure, typical of TiO2-NS and TiO2-NPs, and the high-purity brookite-TiO2-NRs structure, were evident in the produced nanocrystals, according to XRD. SAED patterns confirm that the synthesis of high quality single crystalline TiO2-NSs and TiO2-NRs with the exposed {001} facets are the exposed facets, which have the upper and lower dominant facets, high reactivity, high surface energy, and high surface area. TiO2-NSs and TiO2-NRs could be grown, corresponding to about 80% and 85% of the {001} outer surface area in the nanocrystal, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite halide has many advantages that attracted the attention of researchers in the last years, but many challenges prevent the use of halide perovskites in different applications. One of these challenges is the low thermal stability resulting in phase transitions with temperatures. Here, the photoluminescence (PL) characteristics and related phase transitions of different CH3NH3Pb(BrxI1−x)3 (MA(BrxI1−x)3)3 perovskites structures have been investigated under a wide temperature range. The work that has been conducted demonstrates that under temperature, the exciton behavior of the halide anions, I and Br, has a considerable impact on structural phases and the fluorescence process. The obtained results for the temperature dependence of PL for MAPb(BrxI1−x)3 showed a wide range of emission wavelengths, between 500–800 nm with a decrease in PL intensity with increasing temperature. In addition, the ratio of both bromine and iodine in MAPb(BrxI1−x)3 affects the range of phase transition temperatures, where at x = 0.00, 0.25, and 0.50 the first transition occurs below room temperature (orthorhombic to tetragonal) phase and the other occurs above room temperature (tetragonal to cubic) phase. Furthermore, increasing the proportion of bromine causes all the transitions to occur below room temperature. The presented findings suggest a suitable halide component under a temperature-controlled phase transformation to benefit these materials in photonics devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling the crystallinity, homogeneity, and surface morphology is an efficient method of enhancing the perovskite layer. These improvements contribute toward the optimization of perovskite film morphology for its use in high-performance photovoltaic applications. Here, different solvents will be used in order to process the perovskite precursor, to improve the interfacial contacts through generating a smooth film and uniform crystal domains with large grains. The effect that the solvent has on the optical and structural properties of spin-coated methyl ammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite thin films prepared using a single-step method was systematically investigated. The spin-coating parameters and precursor concentrations of MAI and PbI2 were optimized to produce uniform thin films using the different solvents N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and γ-butyrolactone (GBL). The effect that the solvent has on the morphology of the MAPbI3 films was examined to determine how the materials can be structurally altered to make them highly efficient for use in perovskite hybrid photovoltaic applications. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) results show that the synthesized MAPbI3 films prepared using DMSO, DMF, and GBL exhibit the best crystallinity and optical characteristics (photoluminescence (PL)), respectively, of the prepared films. The optical properties resulting from the noticeable improvement PL of the films can be clearly correlated with their crystallinity, depending on the solvents used in their preparation. The film prepared in DMSO shows the highest transmittance and the highest bandgap energy of the prepared films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high crystal quality of formamidium lead bromide perovskite (CH(NH2)2PbBr3 = FAPbBr3) was infiltrated in a mesoporous TiO2 network. Then, high-quality FAPbBr3 films were evaluated as active lasing media, and were irradiated with a picosecond pulsed laser to demonstrate amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), which is a better benchmark of its intrinsic suitability for gain applications. The behavior was investigated using two excitation wavelengths of 440 nm and 500 nm. Due to the wavelength-dependent absorbance spectrum and the presence of a surface adsorption layer that could be reduced using the shorter 440 nm wavelength, the ASE power dependence was strongly reliant on the excitation wavelength. The ASE state was achieved with a threshold energy density of ~200 µJ/cm2 under 440 nm excitation. Excitation at 500 nm, on the other hand, needed a higher threshold energy density of ~255 µJ/cm2. The ASE threshold carrier density, on the other hand, was expected to be ~4.5 × 1018 cm−3 for both excitations. A redshift of the ASE peak was detected as bandgap renormalization (BGR), and a BGR constant of ~5–7 × 10−9 eV cm was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic materials possess the capability to generate magnetic fields, which facilitates the effective conversion of energy, storage of information, and transmission in contemporary electronic systems. The present study includes the spin-polarized computation on the mechanical, structural, thermodynamic, optical and transport characteristics of Rb2NaMoX6 (X = Br, I). The studied perovskites are found to be stable structurally, mechanically and thermodynamically. An energy gap in both spin channels appears on the (X–X) symmetry lines, suggesting a direct gap for both perovskites. A high magnetic moment of 3 μB\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$${\upmu }_{\text{B}}$$\end{document} is attained for Rb2NaMoX6 (X = Br, I) which favors their potential applications in spintronics. Elastic attributes depict that Rb2NaMoBr6 is ductile, while Rb2NaMoI6 is brittle. The Rb2NaMoBr6 exhibits high value of θD\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$${\uptheta }_{\text{D}}$$\end{document}, showing its stiffer nature than Rb2NaMoI6. Optical absorption in UV range for Rb2NaMoBr6 and in visible range for Rb2NaMoI6 is the indicator to utilize these materials for optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double perovskites based on rubidium have demonstrated potential for obtaining high solar cell power conversion efficiencies. Their distinct crystal structure and electrical characteristics influence these materials’ potential as effective light absorbers. In this present manuscript, a detailed scrutiny of the physical aspects of halide perovskites Rb2TlAsI6 and Rb2TlGaI6 is presented using density functional theory framework implanted in Wien2K code using. Modified Becke Johnson potential is employed to treat the exchange–correlation effects. A computed tolerance factor, octahedral tilting, and formation energy ensure the structural and thermodynamic stability of given structures. Three independent elastic constants and mechanical properties were computed using the Thomas Charpin method. Ductile nature of Rb2TlAsI6 and brittle nature for Rb2TlGaI6 is revealed from computed mechanical attributes. The Debye temperature for Rb2TlGaI6 (171.32 K) is noted higher than Rb2TlAsI6 (144.53 K). Electronic properties revealed a direct bandgap (1.09 eV) for Rb2TlAsI6 and an indirect bandgap (1.2 eV) for Rb2TlGaI6. Optical properties indicate high polarization and absorption of incident light, which is suitable for photovoltaic applications in the visible spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a wavelength-tunable lasing material, perovskites are now generating a lot of scientific attention. Conventional solution-processed CsPbX 3 perovskite films sometimes suffer unavoidable pinhole defects and poor surface morphology, severely limiting their performance on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and lasing application. Herein, a thermal evaporation approach is explored in our work to achieve a uniform and high-coverage CsPb(Br 1- x Y x ) 3 (Y = I, Cl) perovskites polycrystalline thin film. The ASE of these films was studied using a picosecond laser system. The ASE profile increases rapidly over the narrow peak in relation to the laser pump intensity, confirming the development of stimulated emission. ASE began when the energy density threshold was reached and ranged between 25 and 170 μJ/cm 2 per pulse for perovskite materials when replacing I with Br and then Cl. This work emphasizes the notable optical properties of high-quality perovskite thin films, leading to possible accessible uses in optoelectronic applications.