Pressure driven rotational isomerism in 2D hybrid perovskites

Multilayers consisting of alternating soft and hard layers offer enhanced toughness compared to all-hard structures. However, shear instability usually exists in physically sputtered multilayers because of deformation incompatibility among hard and soft layers. Here, we demonstrate that 2D hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIP) provide an interesting platform to study the stress–strain behavior of hard and soft layers undulating with molecular scale periodicity. We investigate the phonon vibrations and photoluminescence properties of Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites (RPPs) under compression using a diamond anvil cell. The organic spacer due to C4 alkyl chain in RPP buffers compressive stress by tilting ( n = 1 RPP) or step-wise rotational isomerism ( n = 2 RPP) during compression, where n is the number of inorganic layers. By examining the pressure threshold of the elastic recovery regime across n = 1–4 RPPs, we obtained molecular insights into the relationship between structure and deformation resistance in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites. Multilayers comprising alternating soft and hard layers offer enhanced toughness compared to all-hard structures. Here authors reveal how the hard and soft components in Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites work cooperatively to resist deformation under pressure, informing the design of alternating superlattices for engineering applications.