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Title: Re-entrant relaxor ferroelectricity of methylammonium lead iodide

Journal Article · · Current Applied Physics
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Qingdao Huanghai Univ., Qingdao (China). College of Electromechanical Engineering; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Semiconductors. Key Lab. of Semiconductor Materials Science
  2. Qingdao Huanghai Univ., Qingdao (China). College of Electromechanical Engineering
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division; Korea Advanced Inst. Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
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In this paper, we have performed a piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) study on methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) thin films in normal (non-resonance, non-band-excitation) contact mode. In contrast to the ferroelectric Pb0.76Ca0.24TiO3 (PCT) control sample, a typical ferroelectric response was not observed. However, a nonlinear electric field dependence of the local PFM amplitude was found in MAPbI3, similar to PCT. An analysis combining results on structure, dielectric dispersion, and weak ferroelectricity demonstrates that MAPbI3 is actually a re-entrant relaxor ferroelectric which, upon cooling, enters into a relaxor phase below its ferroelectric phase transition at ~327 K, due to the balance between the long range ferroelectric order and structural methylammonium group orientational disorder. The ferroelectricity at room temperature is compromised due to the re-entrant relaxor behavior, causing the poor polarization retention or weak ferroelectricity. Finally, our findings essentially conciliate the conflicting experimental results on MAPbI3's ferroelectricity and are beneficial both for basic understanding as well as for device applications.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Qingdao Huanghai Univ., Qingdao (China)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong (China); Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong (China)
Contributing Organization:
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Korea Advanced Inst. Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; T23-407/13-N; AoE/P-03/08
OSTI ID:
1352670
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1358871
Journal Information:
Current Applied Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 12; ISSN 1567-1739
Publisher:
Korean Physical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 14 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Re‐entrant dipole glass‐like behavior and lattice dynamics of 0.65Bi(Mg 1/2 Ti 1/2 )O 3 ‐0.35PbTiO 3 journal December 2019
Lattice‐Defect‐Induced Piezo Response in Methylammonium‐Lead‐Iodide Perovskite Based Nanogenerator journal May 2018
Dielectric and ferroic properties of metal halide perovskites journal January 2019

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75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Atomic force microscopy
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Ferroelectrics
Piezoresponse force microscopy
Relaxor