Effect of phase transition stress on the photoluminescence of perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 microwires

CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) exhibits distinctive properties for applications in photovoltaics, light emitting devices, photodetectors, and fuel cells. The working temperature of an optoelectronic device affects the photophysical properties of the active material, which is closely related to the device performance. In MAPbI3, these properties are intimately connected with its crystalline structure which is temperature dependent. Here, we study the photoluminescence (PL) behavior of MAPbI3 microwires (MWs) under recursive tetragonal-to-cubic and cubic-to-tetragonal phase transitions induced by temperature cycles from 40 °C (tetragonal phase) to 80 °C (cubic phase). MWs emission exhibited an initial redshift in wavelength by increasing the temperature from the tetragonal to the cubic phase, but after several thermal cycles, this trend reversed and the emission blueshifted. In both phases independently, the emission blueshifted and became stronger with increasing the cycles. The results indicate a thermal cycling-dependent PL and a gradual crystalline structure deformation due to a reiterated change in the MWs lattice, which implies variation in the electronic bandgap along the heating–cooling process. The alteration of the electronic band structure was corroborated by thermal cycling-reflectance measurements. The awareness behavior of material properties upon phase transitions and temperature fluctuations is of great importance for the optimization of optoelectronic devices.