Single crystal MAPbBr2 perovskite — Photo: Kttimliu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Perovskite
Calcium titanate — the mineral that gave its name to the whole perovskite structure family, now central to solar cells.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Perovskite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula CaTiO₃.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Pbnm). It is a member of the Perovskite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5.5; specific gravity 3.98–4.26; typically black or brown or yellow or orange; White to grayish white streak; Adamantine to metallic; may be dull luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Prv, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1839.
An accessory mineral in alkaline mafic rocks, as nepheline syenites, kimberlites, carbonatites, commonly deuteric; in calcareous skarns. A common accessory in Ca–Al-rich inclusions in some carbonaceous chondrites.
It is found associated with Åkermanite–gehlenite, nepheline, titanite, ilmenite, magnetite.
The mineral was named to honor Count Lev Alekseevich Perovskii (1792–1856), Russian mineralogist, of St. Petersburg, Russia.
Collections: Collector Favorites, Rare & Remarkable.