External photoelectric effect of CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskite in X-ray region

Abstract

As a novel low-cost semiconductor with extraordinary photoelectric property, the inorganic CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskites have become emerging materials for the next generation of X-ray detectors in the past decade. However, most of recent studies of CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskite X-ray detectors are based on their internal photoelectric effect. Though it is also important and widely used in vacuum X-ray detectors, the external photoelectric effect of CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskite has been rarely studied by now. Thus, the response sensitivity of the CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskite’s external photoelectric effect in the X-ray region is studied in the present paper. First, a 230-nm-thick CsPbI<sub>2</sub>Br membrane is prepared on a metal substrate by a conventional one-step deposition method, with a precursor solution used. Then the external photoelectric responsivity and quantum efficiency of the CsPbI<sub>2</sub>Br membrane are calibrated in a range from 2000 to 5500 eV at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The responsivity is over 5.1 × 10<sup>–5</sup> A/W in the range and the quantum efficiency is over 23%. These calibration data are close to those of a traditional X-ray photoelectric material CsI. The Monte-Carlo method is utilized to simulate the external photoelectric effect of CsPbI<sub>2</sub>Br perovskite, and the external photoelectric responsivity is calculated. The calculated data match well with the calibration, proving the Monte-Carlo method feasible for the external photoelectric effect simulation of CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskite. Then the external photoelectric responsivities and quantum efficiencies of CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskites are calculated via the Monte-Carlo method in the X-ray range from 2000 to 10000 eV. The calculated responsivities of different CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskites are all close to the responsivity of CsI, and an order of magnitude higher than that of Au, and the CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> quantum efficiencies also follow a similar scenario. This indicates that CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> perovskites have good external photoelectric properties and potential applications in X-ray vacuum detectors such as photocathode and photomultiplier. The influence of thickness on CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> photoelectric response is also studied in this paper via Monte-Carlo simulation. The results show that the responsivity increases with the material thickness increasing, which is due to the increased X-ray absorption. The responsivities all reach their upper limits at a material thickness of about 150 nm, which means that the electrons generated at 150 nm can hardly escape from the material surface. It is indicated that the thickness of CsPb<i>X</i><sub>3</sub> should be no less than 150 nm to obtain the optimal photoelectric response.