Halide Perovskite Nanopillar Photodetector

Abstract

Numerous studies have reported the use of halide perovskites as highly functional light-harvesting materials. The development of optimized compositions and deposition approaches has led to impressive improvements; however, no noticeable breakthrough in performance has been observed for these materials recently. Here, a breakthrough that enables the fabrication of vertically grown halide perovskite (VGHP) nanopillar photodetectors via a nanoimprinting crystallization technique is demonstrated. We used engraved nanopatterned polymer stamps to form VGHP nanopillars during the pressurized crystallization of the softly baked gel state of a methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3, denoted MAPI) film. The VGHP films exhibit much lower defect density and higher conductivity, as supported by current-voltage characteristic measurements and conductive atomic force microscopy measurements. Ultimately, two-terminal lateral photodetectors based on the VGHP nanopillar films show a greatly enhanced photoresponse compared with flat film-based photodetectors. We expect that the deposition method presented here will help surpass the technical limits and contribute to further improvements in various halide-perovskite-based devices.