Tuning Spin-Polarized Lifetime in Two-Dimensional Metal–Halide Perovskite through Exciton Binding Energy

Metal–halide perovskite semiconductors have attracted attention for opto-spintronic applications where the manipulation of charge and spin degrees of freedom have the potential to lower power consumption and achieve faster switching times for electronic devices. Lower-dimensional perovskites are of particular interest since the lower degree of symmetry of the metal–halide connected octahedra and the large spin–orbit coupling can potentially lift the spin degeneracy. To achieve their full application potential, long spin-polarized lifetimes and an understanding of spin-relaxation in these systems are needed. Here, we report an intriguing spin-selective excitation of excitons in a series of 2D lead iodide perovskite (n = 1) single crystals by using time- and polarization-resolved transient reflection spectroscopy. Exciton spin relaxation times as long as ∼26 ps at low excitation densities and at room temperature were achieved for a system with small binding energy, 2D EOA₂PbI₄ (EOA = ethanolamine). By tuning the excitation density and the exciton binding energy, we identify the dominant mechanism as the D’yakonov–Perel (DP) mechanism at low exciton densities and the Bir–Aronov–Pikus (BAP) mechanism at high excitation densities. Together, these results provide new design principles to achieve long spin lifetimes in metal–halide perovskite semiconductors.