Methylammonium Lead Iodide for Efficient X-ray Energy Conversion

Abstract

We report on photocurrent generation by X-ray irradiation in methylammonium lead iodide CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 single crystals. We observed 75% of charge collection efficiency in millimeter sized samples. This efficiency is partially due to the high photon absorption coefficient and X-ray beam stopping power of our lead containing material. The material shows a less than 20% decrease in its performance up to 40 Sv of total X-ray dose, which represents a very good stability. Moreover, our Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport calculations indicate that energetic particle radiation can also be harvested by CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 . These properties are compared to CH 3 NH 3 SnI 3 and PbI 2 . The possible application of these advantageous properties could be in simultaneous radiation protection and direct electricity production in environments with highly energetic background radiation.