Single-Crystal Perovskite Solar Cells Exhibit Close to Half A Millimeter Electron-Diffusion Length.

Single-crystal halide perovskites exhibit photogenerated-carriers of high mobility and long lifetime, making them excellent candidates for applications demanding thick semiconductors, such as ionizing radiation detectors, nuclear batteries, and concentrated photovoltaics. However, charge collection depreciates with increasing thickness; therefore, tens to hundreds of volts of external bias is required to extract charges from a thick perovskite layer, leading to a considerable amount of dark current and fast degradation of perovskite absorbers. However, extending the carrier-diffusion length can mitigate many of the anticipated issues preventing the practical utilization of perovskites in the abovementioned applications. Here, single-crystal perovskite solar cells that are up to 400 times thicker than state-of-the-art perovskite polycrystalline films are fabricated, yet retain high charge-collection efficiency in the absence of an external bias. Cells with thicknesses of 110, 214, and 290 µm display power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 20.0, 18.4, and 14.7%, respectively. The remarkable persistence of high PCEs, despite the increase in thickness, is a result of a long electron-diffusion length in those cells, which was estimated, from the thickness-dependent short-circuit current, to be ≈0.45 mm under 1 sun illumination. These results pave the way for adapting perovskite devices to optoelectronic applications in which a thick active layer is essential.

Quantum Tunneling Effect in CsPbBr3 Multiple Quantum Wells.

Two-dimensional (2D) lead halide perovskites (LHPs) have garnered incredible attention thanks to their exciting optoelectronic properties and intrinsic strong quantum confinement effect. Herein, we carefully investigate and decipher the charge carrier dynamics at the interface between CsPbBr3 multiple quantum wells (MQWs) as the photoactive layer and TiO2 and Spiro-OMeTAD as electron and hole transporting materials, respectively. The fabricated MQWs comprise three monolayers of CsPbBr3 separated by 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP) as barriers. By varying the BCP thickness, we show that charge carrier extraction from MQWs to the corresponding extracting layer occurs through a quantum tunneling effect, as elaborated by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements and further verified by femtosecond transient absorption experiments. Ultimately, we have investigated the impact of the barrier-thickness-dependent quantum tunneling effect on the photoelectric behavior of the synthesized QW photodetector devices. Our findings shed light on one of the most promising approaches for efficient carrier extraction in quantum-confined systems.

Lecithin Capping Ligands Enable Ultrastable Perovskite-Phase CsPbI3 Quantum Dots for Rec. 2020 Bright-Red Light-Emitting Diodes.

Bright-red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a narrow emission line width that emit between 620 and 635 nm are needed to meet the latest industry color standard for wide color gamut displays, Rec. 2020. CsPbI3 perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are one of the few known materials that are ideally suited to meet these criteria. Unfortunately, CsPbI3 perovskite QDs are prone to transform into a non-red-emitting phase and are subject to further degradation mechanisms when their luminescence wavelength is tuned to match that of the Rec. 2020 standard. Here, we show that zwitterionic lecithin ligands can stabilize the perovskite phase of CsPbI3 QDs for long periods in air for at least 6 months compared to a few days for control samples. LEDs fabricated with our ultrastable lecithin-capped CsPbI3 QDs exhibit an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 7.1% for electroluminescence centered at 634 nm─a record for all-inorganic perovskite nanocrystals in Rec. 2020 red. Our devices achieve a maximum luminance of 1391 cd/m2 at 7.5 V, and their operational half-life is 33 min (T50) at 200 cd/m2─a 10-fold enhancement compared to control samples. Density functional theory results suggest that the surface strain in CsPbI3 QDs capped with the conventional ligands, oleic acid and oleylamine, contributes to the instability of the perovskite structural phase. On the other hand, lecithin binding induces virtually no surface strain and shows a stronger binding tendency for the CsPbI3 surface. Our study highlights the tremendous potential of zwitterionic ligands in stabilizing the perovskite phase and particle size of CsPbI3 QDs for various optoelectronic applications.

Manipulation of hot carrier cooling dynamics in two-dimensional Dion-Jacobson hybrid perovskites via Rashba band splitting.

Hot-carrier cooling processes of perovskite materials are typically described by a single parabolic band model that includes the effects of carrier-phonon scattering, hot phonon bottleneck, and Auger heating. However, little is known (if anything) about the cooling processes in which the spin-degenerate parabolic band splits into two spin-polarized bands, i.e., the Rashba band splitting effect. Here, we investigated the hot-carrier cooling processes for two slightly different compositions of two-dimensional Dion-Jacobson hybrid perovskites, namely, (3AMP)PbI4 and (4AMP)PbI4 (3AMP = 3-(aminomethyl)piperidinium; 4AMP = 4-(aminomethyl)piperidinium), using a combination of ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. In (4AMP)PbI4, upon Rashba band splitting, the spin-dependent scattering of hot electrons is responsible for accelerating hot-carrier cooling at longer delays. Importantly, the hot-carrier cooling of (4AMP)PbI4 can be extended by manipulating the spin state of the hot carriers. Our findings suggest a new approach for prolonging hot-carrier cooling in hybrid perovskites, which is conducive to further improving the performance of hot-carrier-based optoelectronic and spintronic devices.

[Cu15 (PPh3 )6 (PET)13 ]2+ : a Copper Nanocluster with Crystallization Enhanced Photoluminescence.

Due to their atomically precise structure, photoluminescent copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) have emerged as promising materials in both fundamental studies and technological applications, such as bio-imaging, cell labeling, phototherapy, and photo-activated catalysis. In this work, a facile strategy is reported for the synthesis of a novel Cu NCs coprotected by thiolate and phosphine ligands, formulated as [Cu15 (PPh3 )6 (PET)13 ]2+ , which exhibits bright emission in the near-infrared (NIR) region (≈720 nm) and crystallization-induced emission enhancement (CIEE) phenomenon. Single crystal X-ray crystallography shows that the NC possesses an extraordinary distorted trigonal antiprismatic Cu6 core and a, unique among metal clusters, "tri-blade fan"-like structure. An in-depth structural investigation of the ligand shell combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that the extended CH···π and π-π intermolecular ligand interactions significantly restrict the intramolecular rotations and vibrations and, thus, are a major reason for the CIEE phenomena. This study provides a strategy for the controllable synthesis of structurally defined Cu NCs with NIR luminescence, which enables essential insights into the origins of their optical properties.

Dynamical Interconversion between Excitons and Geminate Charge Pairs in Two-Dimensional Perovskite Layers Described by the Onsager-Braun Model.

Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy are employed to study the photoexcitation dynamics in a highly emissive two-dimensional perovskite compound (en)4Pb2Br9·3Br with the ethylene diammonium (en) spacer. We find that while the PL kinetics is substantially T-dependent over the whole range of studied temperatures T ∼ 77-350 K, the PL quantum yield remains remarkably nearly T-independent up to T ∼ 280-290 K, appreciably decreasing only at higher temperatures. Considerable differences are also revealed between the TA spectra and the responses to the excitation power at low and at room temperatures. Numerical solutions of Onsager-Braun-type kinetic-diffusion equations illustrate that the salient features of the experimental observations are consistent with the picture of a T-dependent dynamic interplay between tightly bound emissive excitons and larger-size, loosely bound, nonemissive geminate charge pairs arising already at earlier relaxation times. The geminate pairs play the role of "reservoir" states providing a delayed feeding into the emitting excitons, thus giving rise to the longer-time PL decay components and accounting for a stable PL output at lower temperatures. At higher temperatures, the propensity for thermal dissociation of excitons and bound pairs increases, leading subsequently to the precipitous decrease of the PL.

Tuning Hot Carrier Cooling Dynamics by Dielectric Confinement in Two-Dimensional Hybrid Perovskite Crystals.

Hot carrier (HC) cooling is a critical photophysical process that significantly influences the optoelectronic performance of hybrid perovskite-based devices. The hot carrier extraction at the device interface is very challenging because of its ultrashort lifetime. Here, ultrafast transient reflectance spectroscopy measurements and time-domain ab initio calculations show how the dielectric constant of the organic spacers can control and slow the HC cooling dynamics in single-crystal 2D Ruddlesden-Popper hybrid perovskites. We find that (EA)2PbI4 (EA = HOC2H4NH3+) that correspond to a high dielectric constant organic spacer has a longer HC cooling time compared to that of (AP)2PbI4 (AP = HOC3H6NH3+) and (PEA)2PbI4 (PEA = C6H5C2H4NH3+). The slow HC relaxation process in the former case can be ascribed to a stronger screening of the Coulomb interactions, a small nonradiative internal conversion within the conduction bands, as well as a weak electron-phonon coupling. Our findings provide a strategy to prolong the hot carrier cooling time in low-dimensional hybrid perovskite materials by using organic spacers with reduced dielectric confinement.

Assembly of Atomically Precise Silver Nanoclusters into Nanocluster-Based Frameworks.

Here, we demonstrate an approach to synthesizing and structurally characterizing three atomically precise anion-templated silver thiolate nanoclusters, two of which form one- and two-dimensional structural frameworks composed of bipyridine-linked nanocluster nodes (referred to as nanocluster-based frameworks, NCFs). We describe the critical role of the chloride (Cl-) template in controlling the nanocluster's nuclearity with atomic precision and the effect of a single Ag atom difference in the nanocluster's size in controlling the NCF dimensionality, modulating the optical properties, and improving the thermal stability. With atomically precise assembly and size control, nanoclusters could be widely adopted as building blocks for the construction of tunable cluster-based framework materials.

Perovskite-Based Artificial Multiple Quantum Wells.

Semiconductor quantum well structures have been critical to the development of modern photonics and solid-state optoelectronics. Quantum level tunable structures have introduced new transformative device applications and afforded a myriad of groundbreaking studies of fundamental quantum phenomena. However, noncolloidal, III-V compound quantum well structures are limited to traditional semiconductor materials fabricated by stringent epitaxial growth processes. This report introduces artificial multiple quantum wells (MQWs) built from CsPbBr3 perovskite materials using commonly available thermal evaporator systems. These perovskite-based MQWs are spatially aligned on a large-area substrate with multiple stacking and systematic control over well/barrier thicknesses, resulting in tunable optical properties and a carrier confinement effect. The fabricated CsPbBr3 artificial MQWs can be designed to display a variety of photoluminescence (PL) characteristics, such as a PL peak shift commensurate with the well/barrier thickness, multiwavelength emissions from asymmetric quantum wells, the quantum tunneling effect, and long-lived hot-carrier states. These new artificial MQWs pave the way toward widely available semiconductor heterostructures for light-conversion applications that are not restricted by periodicity or a narrow set of dimensions.

Synthetic Manipulation of Hybrid Perovskite Systems in Search of New and Enhanced Functionalities.

Over the past few years the organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite systems have emerged as a promising class of materials for photovoltaic and electroluminescent thin-film device applications, in view of their unique set of tunable optoelectronic properties. Importantly, these materials can be easily solution-processed at low temperatures and as such are amenable to facile molecular engineering. Thus, a variety of low-dimensional forms and quantum structures of these materials can be obtained through strategic synthetic manipulations through small molecule incorporation or molecular ion doping. In this Minireview, we specifically focus on these approaches and outline the possibilities of utilizing these for enhanced functionalities and newer application domains.

Hybrid Perovskite Quantum Nanostructures Synthesized by Electrospray Antisolvent-Solvent Extraction and Intercalation.

Perovskites based on organometal lead halides have attracted great deal of scientific attention recently in the context of solar cells and optoelectronic devices due to their unique and tunable electronic and optical properties. Herein, we show that the use of electrospray technique in conjunction with the antisolvent-solvent extraction leads to novel low-dimensional quantum structures (especially 2-D nanosheets) of CH3NH3PbI3- and CH3NH3PbBr3-based layered perovskites with unusual luminescence properties. We also show that the optical bandgaps and emission characteristics of these colloidal nanomaterials can be tuned over a broad range of visible spectral region by compositional tailoring of mixed-halide (I- and Br-based) perovskites.