Strong Coupling of Self-Trapped Excitons to Acoustic Phonons in Bismuth Perovskite $\textrm{Cs}_{3}\textrm{Bi}_{2}\textrm{I}_{9}$

Abstract: To assess the potential optoelectronic applications of metal-halide perovskites, it is critical to have a detailed understanding of the nature, strength, and dynamics of the interactions between carriers and the polar lattices. Here, we report the electronic and structural dynamics of bismuth-based perovskite $\textrm{Cs}{3}\textrm{Bi}{2}\textrm{I}{9}$ revealed by transient reflectivity and ultrafast electron diffraction. A cross-examination of these experimental results combined with theoretical analyses allows the identification of the major carrier-phonon coupling mechanism and the associated time scales. It is found that carriers photoinjected into $\textrm{Cs}{3}\textrm{Bi}{2}\textrm{I}{9}$ form self-trapped excitons on an ultrafast time scale. However, they retain most of their energy and their coupling to Fr\"ohlich-type optical phonons is limited at early times. Instead, the long-lived excitons exert an electronic stress via deformation potential and develop a prominent, sustaining strain field as coherent acoustic phonons in 10 ps. From sub-ps to ns and beyond, a similar extent of the atomic displacements is found throughout the different stages of structural distortions, from limited local modulations to a coherent strain field to the Debye-Waller random atomic motions on longer times. The current results suggest the potential use of bismuth-based perovskites for applications other than photovoltaics to take advantage of carriers' stronger self-trapping and long lifetime.