Bulk Heterostructure BA2PbI4/MAPbI3 Perovskites for Suppressed Ion Migration To Achieve Sensitive X-ray Detection Performance

Three-dimensional (3D) lead-halide perovskites with outstanding mobility-lifetime products and large attenuation coefficients for X-ray photons have demonstrated highly sensitive X-ray detection. However, there exists severe ion migration, especially under electrical bias, that results in dark-current drift and poorer device stability. Theoretical analyses suggest that 3D perovskites with two-dimensional (2D) perovskites may mitigate ion migration and reduce the dark current to achieve a drastically lower detection limit, which is badly needed for X-ray diagnostics. A bulk 2D/3D perovskite heterostructure is therefore designed and prepared by hot-pressing a mixture of BA2PbI4 and MAPbI3 particles. Compared with the pure MAPbI3 pellet, the bulk 2D/3D heterostructure pellet shows much higher resistivity, hence, significantly reduced ion migration and a much smaller dark-current drift of 4.84 x 10-5 nA cm-1 s-1 V-1, which is much lower than that of the pristine MAPbI3 pellet, thus demonstrating its effectiveness for the suppression of ion migration. The bulk 2D/3D heterostructure pellet attains an X-ray sensitivity of 2.0 x 103 mu C Gyair -1 cm-2 as well as a lower detection limit of 111.76 nGy s-1 under 10 V bias. This work provides a successful strategy to prepare X-ray detectors with suppressed ion migration and negligible dark current drift, which will further benefit the development of lead-halide perovskite X-ray detectors.