Progress of Lead-Free Halide Perovskites: From Material Synthesis to Photodetector Application

Lead halide perovskite (LHP) has been widely researched in the photovoltaic field due to its highly attractive optoelectronic properties. Among the LHP-based devices, the detectivity of the photodetector is as high as 10(15) Jones. However, their practical application is limited by the toxicity of lead in perovskite and the inherent instability induced by the perovskite structure against moisture, heat, and light. To address these issues, tremendous efforts have been made to replace Pb2+ with other environmentally friendly metal cations such as Sn2+, Bi3+, Cu2+, Sb3+, and Ge2+. Thus, considerable breakthroughs in device performance and stability using lead-free metal halide perovskite (LFMHP) have been made in recent years. In this review, the synthesis methods and strategies are focused for enhancing the material quality and photoelectric properties of LFMHPs and the recent research progress of LFMHP-based photodetectors is summarized. This research provides some promising perspectives for high-performance LFMHP photodetectors to achieve a broader range of practical applications in the future.