Multiphoton Absorption Order of CsPbBr3 As Determined by Wavelength-Dependent Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy

Ultrahigh Nonlinear Responses from MXene Plasmons in the Short-Wave Infrared Range

Surface plasmons in 2D materials such as graphene exhibit exceptional field confinement. However, the low electron density of majority of 2D materials, which are semiconductors or semimetals, has limited their plasmons to mid-wave or long-wave infrared regime. This study demonstrates that a 2D Ti3C2Tx MXene with high electron density can not only support strong plasmon confinement with an acoustic plasmon mode in the short-wave infrared region, but also provide ultrahigh nonlinear responses. The acoustic MXene plasmons (AMPs) in the MXene (Ti3C2Tx)-insulator (SiO2)-metal (Au) nanostructure generate in the 1.5-6.0 µm wavelength range, exhibiting a two orders of magnitude reduction in wavelength compared to wavelength in free space. Furthermore, AMP resonators with patterned Au rods exhibit a record-high nonlinear absorption coefficient of 1.37 × 10-2 m W-1 at wavelength of 1.56 µm, ≈3 orders of magnitude greater than the highest value recorded for other 2D materials. These results indicate that MXenes can overcome fundamental plasmon wavelength limitations of previously studied 2D materials, providing groundbreaking opportunities in nonlinear optical applications, including all-optical processing and ultrafast optical switching.

Carriers, Quasi-particles, and Collective Excitations in Halide Perovskites

Halide perovskites (HPs) are potential game-changing materials for a broad spectrum of optoelectronic applications ranging from photovoltaics, light-emitting devices, lasers to radiation detectors, ferroelectrics, thermoelectrics, etc. Underpinning this spectacular expansion is their fascinating photophysics involving a complex interplay of carrier, lattice, and quasi-particle interactions spanning several temporal orders that give rise to their remarkable optical and electronic properties. Herein, we critically examine and distill their dynamical behavior, collective interactions, and underlying mechanisms in conjunction with the experimental approaches. This review aims to provide a unified photophysical picture fundamental to understanding the outstanding light-harvesting and light-emitting properties of HPs. The hotbed of carrier and quasi-particle interactions uncovered in HPs underscores the critical role of ultrafast spectroscopy and fundamental photophysics studies in advancing perovskite optoelectronics.

Investigation of Two Photon Absorption of Ligand-Modified CsPbBr3 Quantum Dots

The characteristics and application of nonlinear absorption from CsPbBr₃ QDs film with the ligand-modified strategy have been investigated in this work. By means of a near-infrared fs Ti:sapphire laser as a light source, the up-conversion emission of CsPbBr₃ QDs film of around 518 nm revealed a quadratic increase with the pump intensity. Through the temperature-dependent up-conversion emission, we obtained the binding energy and longitudinal optical (LO) phonon energy of CsPbBr₃ QDs film of around 58.1 and 61.2 meV, respectively. Due to more active thermal coupling between the excited electron or hot phonon effect, the photon decay trace under two-photon excitation was prolonged at higher temperatures. The ligand-modified CsPbBr₃ QDs film exhibits a relatively large TPA coefficient of around 28.6 cm/GW by the open aperture Z-scan measurement, and it has been demonstrated as a promising nonlinear medium to obtain the pulsewidth of ultrafast lasers.

Two-photon absorption in halide perovskites and their applications

Active research on halide perovskites has given us a deep understanding of this family of materials and their potential for applications in advanced optoelectronic devices. One of the prominent outcomes is the use of perovskite materials for nonlinear optical applications. Two-photon absorption in perovskites, in particular their nanostructures, has been extensively studied and shows huge promise for many applications. However, we are still far from a thorough understanding of two-photon absorption in halide perovskites from a micro to macro perspective. Here we summarize different techniques for studying the two-photon absorption in nonlinear optical materials. We discuss the in-depth photophysics in two-photon absorption in halide perovskites. A comprehensive summary about the factors which influence two-photon absorption provides the direction to improve the two-photon absorption properties of halide perovskites. A summary of the recent applications of two-photon absorption in halide perovskites provides inspirations for engineers to utilize halide perovskites in two-photon absorption device development. This review will help readers to have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the research field of two-photon absorption of halide perovskites from microscopic mechanisms to applications. The article can serve as a manual and give inspiration for future researchers.

Third-order optical nonlinearity of CsPb(Br/I)3 metal halide perovskites nano-crystals embedded chalcogenide glass

The nonlinear optical properties of emerging metal halide perovskites (MHP) materials are sufficiently intriguing that this topic has become the hotspots in the realm of material science. Hence, we investigate the third-order nonlinear optical properties of CsPbBrx/I_3-x (x = 1, 2, 3) MHP nano-crystals (NCs) embedded chalcogenide glass (ChG) within a GeS₂-Sb₂S₃ pseudo-binary system, by monitoring the composition, excitation wavelength and intensity dependencies via femtosecond Z-scan technique. We have found that the intrinsic large optical nonlinearity of ChG can be further enhanced because of the incorporation of MHP NCs, and that the optical nonlinearity of MHP-ChG containing pristine Br NCs is more pronounced compared to its counterparts with mixed Br/I NCs, due to a combination of multiple factors.

High-order harmonics generation in the laser-induced lead-free perovskites-containing plasmas

High-order harmonics generation in the laser-induced plasmas produced on the surfaces of lead-free perovskites is studied. We analyze the harmonics generation in (CH₃NH₃)₂CuCl₄ and (CH₃NH₃)₂CuBr₄ plasmas during their ablation by the femtosecond, picosecond, and nanosecond pulses. The modifications of the high-order harmonics spectra are studied using the -color pump scheme (800 nm and 400 nm, 40 fs pulses). The influence of the variations of laser chirp and pulse duration on the dynamics of high-order harmonics generation is examined. The spectral shift, chirp-related harmonic cutoff scaling, and the role of the pulse duration of converting and heating laser radiation are examined at different conditions of plasma formation and harmonic generation. The dependencies of the pulse duration and the fluence of heating pulses on the harmonic’s blue shift are found. The effect of harmonics broadening and splitting on the two red- and blue-shifted components is demonstrated.

Low Threshold and Ultrastability of One-Step Air-Processed All-Inorganic CsPbX3 Thin Films toward Full-Color Visible Amplified Spontaneous Emission

All-inorganic perovskites (CsPbX3) with the merits of high stability and remarkable optical gain property are attractive for achieving on-chip coherent light sources. Unfortunately, traditional solution-processed CsPbX3 films suffer from inevitable poor surface integrity and pinhole defects, severely hindering their optical properties. Here, from the perspective of precursor solution chemistry, we use an ionic liquid solvent methylammonium acetate (MAAc) to fabricate compact, pinhole-free, and smooth CsPbX3 thin films in a one-step air process without antisolvent treatment. Optically pumped amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with a straightforward visible spectral tunability (418-725 nm) is achieved under both nanosecond and femtosecond laser excitation. For the representative CsPbBr3 films, the threshold reaches down to 11.4 μJ cm-2 under nanosecond laser pumping, which is comparable to the value under one-photon femtosecond pumping. The long gain lifetime up to 258.2 ps is revealed by transient absorption spectroscopy. Most importantly, the films show excellent optical stability and humidity stability with no obvious degradation under the pulsed laser irradiation for more than 210 min, stable ASE output under 95% high humidity, and conspicuous ASE after 1000 h of storage in air condition without encapsulation. These results demonstrate that the method of fabricating inorganic perovskite films with an ionic liquid solvent is promising in developing high-performance full-color visible lasers.

Temperature-dependent excitonic emission characteristics of lead-free inorganic double perovskites and their third-order optical nonlinearities

We report temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) in the temperature range between 77 K and 300 K, and room temperature nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of solution processed lead-free Cs₂NaBiI₆ (CNBI) and Cs₂KBiI₆ (CKBI) perovskite films. The de-convolution analysis of temperature-dependent PL spectra showed thermal quenching behavior of free-exciton (FX) emission, an unusual blue-shift of PL emission, and line broadening with increasing temperature as a consequence of strong exciton-phonon interaction. The nonlinear refractive index (n₂) and nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) of both the CNBI and CKBI films are determined using a closed aperture (CA) and open aperture (OA) Z-scan technique, respectively. Both the CNBI and CKBI perovskites exhibited features of saturable absorption (SA) with β ∼ -6.23 × 10^-12 cm W^-1, and -1.14× 10^-12 cm W^-1, respectively. The CA measurements depicted a self-defocusing effect in both the samples with n₂ values ∼-1.06 × 10^-14 cm² W^-1 and -1.337× 10^-14 cm² W^-1, respectively. With such emission and NLO characteristics, CNBI and CKBI perovskite films can be used for designing eco-friendly optoelectronic and NLO devices.

Advances of Nonlinear Photonics in Low-Dimensional Halide Perovskites

Hybrid halide perovskites emerging as a highly promising class of functional materials for semiconductor optoelectronic applications have drawn great attention from worldwide researchers. In the past few years, prominent nonlinear optical properties have been demonstrated in perovskite bulk structures indicating their bright prospect in the field of nonlinear optics (NLO). Following the surge of 3D perovskites, more recently, the low-dimensional perovskites (LDPs) materials ranging from two-, one-, to zero-dimension such as quantum-wells or colloidal nanostructures have displayed unexpectedly attractive NLO response due to the strong quantum confinement, remarkable exciton effect, and structural diversity. In this perspective, the current state of the art is reviewed in the field of NLO for LDP materials. The relationship between confinement effect and NLO is analyzed systematically to give a comprehensive understanding of the function of dimension reduction. Furthermore, future directions and challenges toward the improvement of the NLO in LDP materials are discussed to provide an outlook in this rapidly developing field.

Enhanced Multiphoton Processes in Perovskite Metasurfaces

Multiphoton absorption and luminescence are fundamentally important nonlinear processes for utilizing efficient light-matter interaction. Resonant enhancement of nonlinear processes has been demonstrated for many nanostructures; however, it is believed that all higher-order processes are always much weaker than their corresponding linear processes. Here, we study multiphoton luminescence from structured surfaces and, combining multiple advantages of perovskites with the concept of metasurfaces, we demonstrate that the efficiency of nonlinear multiphoton processes can become comparable to the efficiency of the linear process. We reveal that the perovskite metasurface can enhance substantially two-photon stimulated emission with the threshold being comparable with that of the one-photon process. Our modeling of free-carrier dynamics and exciton recombination upon nonlinear photoexcitation uncovers that this effect can be attributed to the local field enhancement in structured media, a substantial increase of the mode overlap, and the selection rules of two-photon absorption in perovskites.

Enhanced Third Harmonic Generation in Lead Bromide Perovskites with Ruddlesden-Popper Planar Faults

Lead halide perovskites provide a test bed for exploring nonlinear optical properties. Although the underlying centrosymmetric crystal structure of 3D lead halide perovskites precludes the phenomenon of second harmonic generation, the third and higher-order harmonic generation are allowed. In this work, we probe the third harmonic generation (THG) from CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) and compare it to the THG from CsPbBr₃ NCs with Ruddlesden-Popper planar faults (RP-CsPbBr₃), formed via postsynthetic fusion-growth. The THG from CsPbBr₃ NCs is negligible compared with that of RP-CsPbBr₃ NCs within a wide range of femtosecond excitation wavelengths. We further compare the THG from a thin film of RP-CsPbBr₃ with that of a single crystal of methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr₃). The THG efficiency of RP-CsPbBr₃ is found to be three times greater than that of MAPbBr₃. An effective third-order susceptibility of the order of 10^-18 m² V^-2 is obtained for a RP-CsPbBr₃ film, opening up the prospect of inorganic halide perovskite NCs with planar defects for a range of nonlinear optical applications.

Investigation of random lasing from all-inorganic halide perovskite quantum dots prepared under ambient conditions

Random lasing from CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) prepared by the hot injection method under ambient conditions has been investigated. The lasing characteristics and performance were related to the thickness and aggregation of the QDs film on a glass substrate. The perovskite emitted linear polarized ASE from the edge of the prepared sample as pump energy above a certain threshold, owing to the gain guiding effect. In comparison to the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, the prepared perovskite random lasers produced a speckle reduced image with a lower contrast of around 0.051. Through temperature-dependent measurements under a surface normal emission configuration, the photon energy of ASE revealed a red shift as the temperature increased and showed a larger characteristic temperature of around 230 K. This result illustrates that the perovskite prepared under ambient conditions can be a promising material for a microcavity laser in the near future.

Role of the A-Site Cation in Low-Temperature Optical Behaviors of APbBr3 (A = Cs, CH3NH3)

APbBr₃ (A = Cs, CH₃NH₃) are prototype halide perovskites having bandgaps of 2.30-2.35 eV at room temperature, rendering their apparent color nearly identical (bright orange but opaque). Upon optical excitation, they emit bright photoluminescence (PL) arising from carrier recombination whose spectral features are also similar. At 10 K, however, the apparent color of CsPbBr₃ becomes transparent yellow, whereas that of CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ does not change significantly due to the presence of an indirect Rashba gap. With increasing the excitation level, evolution of the PL spectra, which are excitonic at 10 K, reveals the emergence of P-band emission arising from inelastic exciton-exciton scattering. Based on the spectral location of the P-band, exciton binding energies are determined to be 21.6 ± 2.0 and 38.3 ± 3.0 meV for CsPbBr₃ and CH₃NH₃PbBr₃, respectively. Intriguingly, upon further increase in the exciton density, electron-hole plasma appears in CsPbBr₃ as evidenced by both red-shift and broadening of the PL. This phase, however, does not occur in CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ presumably due to polaronic effects. Although the A-site cation is believed not to directly impact optical properties of APbBr₃, our results underscore its critical role, which destines different high-density phases and apparent color at low temperatures.

Static Rashba Effect by Surface Reconstruction and Photon Recycling in the Dynamic Indirect Gap of APbBr3 (A = Cs, CH3NH3) Single Crystals

Recently, halide perovskites have gained significant attention from the perspective of efficient spintronics owing to the Rashba effect. This effect occurs as a consequence of strong spin-orbit coupling under a noncentrosymmetric environment, which can be dynamic and/or static. However, there exist intense debates on the origin of broken inversion symmetry since the halide perovskites typically crystallize into a centrosymmetric structure. In order to clarify the issue, we examine both dynamic and static effects in the all-inorganic CsPbBr₃ and organic-inorganic CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ (MAPbBr₃) perovskite single crystals by employing temperature- and polarization-dependent photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The perovskite single crystals manifest the dynamic effect by photon recycling in the indirect Rashba gap, causing dual peaks in the photoluminescence. However, the effect vanishes in CsPbBr₃ at low temperatures (<50 K) accompanied by a striking color change of the crystal, arising presumably from lower degrees of freedom for inversion symmetry breaking associated with the thermal motion of the spherical Cs cation compared with the polar MA cation in MAPbBr₃. We also show that the static Rashba effect occurs only in MAPbBr₃ below 90 K, presumably due to surface reconstruction via MA-cation ordering, which likely extends across a few layers from the crystal surface to the interior. We further demonstrate that this static Rashba effect can be completely suppressed upon surface treatment with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) coating. We believe that our results provide a rationale for the Rashba effects in halide perovskites.

Halide Perovskites for Nonlinear Optics

Halide perovskites provide an ideal platform for engineering highly promising semiconductor materials for a wide range of applications in optoelectronic devices, such as photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, and lasers. More recently, increasing research efforts have been directed toward the nonlinear optical properties of halide perovskites because of their unique chemical and electronic properties, which are of crucial importance for advancing their applications in next-generation photonic devices. Here, the current state of the art in the field of nonlinear optics (NLO) in halide perovskite materials is reviewed. Halide perovskites are categorized into hybrid organic/inorganic and pure inorganic ones, and their second-, third-, and higher-order NLO properties are summarized. The performance of halide perovskite materials in NLO devices such as upconversion lasers and ultrafast laser modulators is analyzed. Several potential perspectives and research directions of these promising materials for nonlinear optics are presented.

Deciphering the Ultrafast Nonlinear Optical Properties and Dynamics of Pristine and Ni-Doped CsPbBr3 Colloidal Two-Dimensional Nanocrystals

While the unabated race persists in achieving record efficiencies in solar cells and other photonic/optoelectronic devices using lead halide perovskite absorbers, a comprehensive picture of the correlated third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties is yet to be established. The present study is aimed at deciphering the role of dopants in multiphoton absorption properties of intentionally engineered CsPbBr₃ colloidal nanocrystals (NCs). The charge separation of the plasmon-semiconductor conduction band owing to the hot electron transfer at the interface was demystified using the dynamics of the bleached spectral data from femtosecond (fs) transient absorption spectroscopy with broadband capabilities. The NLO properties studied through the fs Z-scan technique revealed that Ni-doped CsPbBr₃ NCs exhibited strong third-order NLO susceptibility of ∼10^-10 esu. The exotic photophysical phenomena in these pristine and Ni-doped CsPbBr₃ colloidal two-dimensional (2D) NCs reported herein are believed to provide the avenues to address the critical variables involved in the structural differences and their correlated optoelectronic properties.

Chemical Vapor Deposition Method Grown All-Inorganic Perovskite Microcrystals for Self-Powered Photodetectors

Self-powered photodetectors (SPPDs) have attracted lots of attention due to their various advantages including no external power sources, high-sensitivity, fast response speed, and so on. This study reports the fabrication and characterization results of CsPbBr₃ microcrystals (MCs) grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and the SPPDs have been fabricated on the basis of the CsPbBr₃ MCs layer with the sandwich structure of GaN/CsPbBr₃ MCs/ZnO. Such designed SPPD shows the detectivity ( D*) of 10¹⁴ Jones, on/off ratio of up to 10⁵, peak responsivity ( R) of 89.5 mA/W, and enhanced stability at the incident wavelength of 540 nm. The photodetector enables the fast photoresponse speed of 100 μs rise time and 140 μs decay time. The performances of the SPPD are comparable to the best ones ever reported for CsPbBr₃ based PDs but do not need external power supplies, which mainly benefit from the low trap density, long carrier diffusion of high quality CsPbBr₃MCs film, and the built-in electric fields in the sandwich structure of GaN/CsPbBr₃/ZnO layers.

Linear and nonlinear optical characteristics of all-inorganic perovskite CsPbBr3 quantum dots modified by hydrophobic zeolites

All-inorganic perovskite quantum dots (QDs) have been considered as outstanding candidates for high-performance optoelectronic device applications. However, the chemical and optical stabilities restrict their device applications. In this paper, hydrophobic zeolites were proposed to modify CsPbBr3 QDs to prevent water influence while achieving good dispersion. These hybrid luminescent materials possess high internal quantum efficiency (IQE, ∼81%@3.52 W cm-2) and low dissociation levels that give rise to improved optical stability in terms of temperature and time. More interesting, it is found that this nanocomposite is able to maintain its optical limiting performance under intensive laser illumination. This paper discusses the linear and nonlinear optical characteristics of CsPbBr3 QDs, which would be of great importance for both fundamental physics investigation and practical multiphoton applications.

Temperature and excitation wavelength-dependent photoluminescence of CH3NH3PbBr3 crystal

We have investigated temperature and excitation wavelength-dependent luminescent properties of CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ (MAPbBr₃) perovskite crystal using steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Optical spectroscopic results indicate that the PL intensity, peak wavelength, and full width at half maximum are jumped due to the phase transition from orthorhombic to tetragonal and cubic. As temperature increases, the peaks of above-bandgap and intrinsic PL have blueshift and redshift, respectively. The above-bandgap PL emerges under one-photon laser excitation and vanishes under the excitation of near-infrared femtosecond laser due to reabsorption. The initial redshift of PL peak and lifetime change at various wavelengths reveals the existence of a trap-assisted excitonic state. It is found that upconversion PL in all phases is composed of a photoinduced thermal-assisted and an intrinsic excitonic state, which produces the observation of biexponential dynamics. Our results can facilitate the understanding of the thermal effect of exciton recombination in hybrid perovskite crystal.

Toward Metal Halide Perovskite Nonlinear Photonics

The possibility of controlling light using the nonlinear optical properties of photonic devices opens new points of view in information and communications technology applications. In this Perspective, we review and analyze the potential role of metal halide perovskites in a framework different from their usual one in photovoltaic and light-emitting devices, namely, the one where they can play as nonlinear photonic materials. We contextualize this new role by comparing the few extant results on their nonlinear optical properties to those of other known nonlinear materials. As a result of this analysis, we provide a vision of future developments in photonics that can be expected from this new perspective on metal halide perovskites.