Structure and phase transition in (CH₃NH₃)₃Bi₂Br₉. A novel improper ferroelectrics

Abstract

The crystals of (CH₃NH₃)₃Bi₂Br₉ have been grown which at room temperature are isomorphous with Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ and (CH₃NH₃)₃Sb₂Br₉. The space group is P3m1, a = 0.807, c = 1.008 nm, V = 0.5685 nm³, Z = 1. The crystals reveal, when cooling, three phase transitions at 188 ± 0.5, 140 ± 1, and 101.5 ± 0.5 K. The high temperature phase (I) behaves as a plastic one with respect to a freedom of rotation of methylammonium cations. The two high temperature transitions I II and II III can be related, similarly to (CH₃NH₃)₃Sb₂Br₉, to a freezing of reorientation of those cations. At 101.5 K a transition to the improper ferroelectric phase IV was discovered. The features of this phase are non-typical and the nature of the transition is unknown.