Scientists are currently probing into the mechanism of perovskite in order to exerts its advantages in solar and LED fields. Canadian scientists have recently discovered the unexpected status of quantum drop in perovskite, which helps to actuate the applications and development of the particular material. 

Perovskite is a semiconductor material that contains high efficiency, low cost, and prospective LED applications, and has received a sizable degree of popularity in recent years. The material is also capable of continuous operation even with defects in the crystal. Semiconductor production usually requires rigorous and exorbitant processes to construct flawless crystals to facilitate functioning semiconductor components subsequently. For instance, silicon solar requires a production environment that is both vacuum and high temperature at over 1,000℃. 

Patanjali Kambhampati, Associate Professor of Chemistry at the McGill University, commented that this is merely the beginning of the research in probing into “how defective materials operate perfectly”, and stated that a pristine state of matter was recently discovered from a further understanding in perovskite. 

Research personnel discovered the quantum confinement-like mechanism in cesium bromide perovskite crystal by stimulating the detection spectrum through state analyses in the past, which means that the smaller the nanomaterial, the stronger the luminous intensity, and the shorter the wavelength of light emission, which is usually seen in small to nano particles, though a similar phenomenon is also found in perovskite that is evidently larger than quantum dot. 

(Source: McGill University) 

The research team is once again attempting to uncover the secrets behind, and found out that perovskite possesses certain properties of liquid, despite being a solid substance. The research team of McGill University commented that the atomic lattice structure of perovskite has resulted in the two opposing properties, and the atomic lattice would transform in shape when encountered with free electrons, which is also known as polaron formation. A simple depiction to the shape transformation can be thought as a trampoline. 

As pointed out by the research team, the trampoline absorbs the energy when heavy objects are thrown at the center to reduce the bounciness and dynamics of the objects, though the transformative lattice structure of perovskite crystal is the exact opposite, where the distinctive electron dynamics increase the energy, which exerts a quantum dot-like effect. Kambhampati commented that polaron usually restricts all matters in definitive areas, and now it proves that polaron can be mixed with the machine to form a liquid quantum dot-like substance that can be regarded as quantum drop. 

The team hopes that the research on quantum drop is able to facilitate further understanding in the operation of defect tolerant materials. 

(Cover photo source: pixabay)