Non-centrosymmetric halide perovskites are a class of semiconducting material containing a structural asymmetry with potentially transformative implications for several major industries.

In the field of solar energy, they’re being used to engineer lighter, cheaper, more efficient solar cells that can be printed on virtually any surface.

They have applications in spin computing, which involves harnessing the spin of electrons, rather than just their charge, to store data.

They may also play a critical role in the construction of the next-generation optical sensing devices that will power new breakthroughs in computing and manufacturing.

But our understanding of these materials is still in its infancy, with much of the foundational research into their properties happening in just the past decade. There are also major challenges that must be overcome before they can be manufactured and deployed on a wide scale.

To further knowledge of the major opportunities and challenges in the field, RPI Materials Science and Engineering Professor Jian Shi, Ph.D., and his colleague Joe Briscoe, Ph.D., of Queen Mary University, recently shared their perspective on non-centrosymmetric halide perovskites and their unique optoelectronic properties in Nature Reviews Physics.

“These materials have great structural and chemical flexibility, which means that we can easily tune their symmetry and spin-orbit coupling,” Shi said. “This opens windows for designing the physical properties of the materials for applications such as energy conversion, sensing, and computing.”

Shi is especially interested in halide perovskites with crystalline structures that lack inversion symmetry, as this allows for unique photogalvanic effects that convert light into electricity.

“I am very excited about the use of photogalvanic effects in halide perovskites for basic science research, and for developing new platforms for measuring and understanding the fundamental properties of matter”, he said.

Shi cautions that major challenges must be overcome before non-centrosymmetric halide perovskite devices could be manufactured on an industrial scale. They are currently less chemically and thermally stable than traditional materials like silicon, meaning they tend to break down more quickly in real-world situations. 

Researchers are looking for ways to either strengthen the materials themselves, or to transfer their unique properties to other materials. 

It’s a big challenge, but the benefits of perovskite materials and their properties are so profound that it’s one worth tackling, Shi says.