Material Dimensionality Effects on Electron Transfer Rates Between CsPbBr3 and CdSe Nanoparticles

Interfacial Engineering of In2Se3/h-BN/CsPb(Br/I)3 Heterostructure Photodetector and Its Application in Automatic Obstacle Avoidance System

Driven by the rapid development of autonomous vehicles, ultrasensitive photodetectors with high signal-to-noise ratio and ultraweak light detection capability are urgently needed. Due to its intriguing attributes, the emerging van der Waals material, indium selenide (In2Se3), has attracted extensive attention as an ultrasensitive photoactive material. However, the lack of an effective photoconductive gain mechanism in individual In2Se3 inhibits its further application. Herein, we propose a heterostructure photodetector consisting of an In2Se3 photoactive channel, a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) passivation layer, and a CsPb(Br/I)3 quantum dot gain layer. This device manifests a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 × 106 with responsivity of 2994 A/W and detectivity of 4.3 × 1014 Jones. Especially, it enables the detection of weak light as low as 0.03 μW/cm2. These performance characteristics are ascribed to the interfacial engineering. In2Se3 and CsPb(Br/I)3 with type-II band alignment promote the separation of photocarriers, while h-BN passivates the impurities on CsPb(Br/I)3 and promises a high-quality carrier transport interface. Furthermore, this device is successfully integrated into an automatic obstacle avoidance system, demonstrating promising application prospects in autonomous vehicles.

2D II-VI Semiconductor Nanoplatelets: From Material Synthesis to Optoelectronic Integration

The field of colloidal synthesis of semiconductors emerged 40 years ago and has reached a certain level of maturity thanks to the use of nanocrystals as phosphors in commercial displays. In particular, II-VI semiconductors based on cadmium, zinc, or mercury chalcogenides can now be synthesized with tailored shapes, composition by alloying, and even as nanocrystal heterostructures. Fifteen years ago, II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets injected new ideas into this field. Indeed, despite the emergence of other promising semiconductors such as halide perovskites or 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, colloidal II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets remain among the narrowest room-temperature emitters that can be synthesized over a wide spectral range, and they exhibit good material stability over time. Such nanoplatelets are scientifically and technologically interesting because they exhibit optical features and production advantages at the intersection of those expected from colloidal quantum dots and epitaxial quantum wells. In organic solvents, gram-scale syntheses can produce nanoparticles with the same thicknesses and optical properties without inhomogeneous broadening. In such nanoplatelets, quantum confinement is limited to one dimension, defined at the atomic scale, which allows them to be treated as quantum wells. In this review, we discuss the synthetic developments, spectroscopic properties, and applications of such nanoplatelets. Covering growth mechanisms, we explain how a thorough understanding of nanoplatelet growth has enabled the development of nanoplatelets and heterostructured nanoplatelets with multiple emission colors, spatially localized excitations, narrow emission, and high quantum yields over a wide spectral range. Moreover, nanoplatelets, with their large lateral extension and their thin short axis and low dielectric surroundings, can support one or several electron-hole pairs with large exciton binding energies. Thus, we also discuss how the relaxation processes and lifetime of the carriers and excitons are modified in nanoplatelets compared to both spherical quantum dots and epitaxial quantum wells. Finally, we explore how nanoplatelets, with their strong and narrow emission, can be considered as ideal candidates for pure-color light emitting diodes (LEDs), strong gain media for lasers, or for use in luminescent light concentrators.

Electronic effect of substituents on the charge-transfer dynamics at the CsPbBr3 perovskite-small molecule interface

To push the boundary of the efficiency of perovskite nanocrystal-based photovoltaics, understanding the charge transfer at the interface of these nanocrystals is necessary. In an effort to understand the electronic effects of the substituents in the charge acceptor moiety, three electronically different small molecules (namely, chloranilic acid (CA), p-benzoquinone (BQ), and duroquinone (DQ)) were chosen and their detailed charge transfer dynamics were studied at the CsPbBr₃ perovskite nanocrystal-small organic molecule interface using steady state and time-resolved spectroscopic methods. The steady-state absorption and time-resolved emission studies reveal that all three molecules interact with the NCs in the excited state. Femtosecond transient absorption experiments indicate a faster ground-state bleach recovery in the presence of the three acceptors, compared with the pristine NCs. Utilizing band alignment analysis, the faster bleach recovery of the NCs in presence of the acceptors was confirmed to be because of electron transfer from the photo-excited NCs to the acceptor molecules. Moreover, the electron transfer rates fall in the Marcus normal region and can be explained based on the electronic effects of the substituents present on the acceptor molecules.

Full-Color Circularly Polarized Luminescence of CsPbX3 Nanocrystals Triggered by Chiral Carbon Dots

Chiral carbon dots (Ch-CDs) trigger the full-color circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) of CsPbX₃  nanocrystals (NCs). Ch-CDs-CsPbBr₃  NCs are successfully synthesized via simple ligand-assisted coprecipitation of Ch-CDs and metal halides precursors at room temperature. Ch-CDs-CsPbBr₃  retains emission characteristics of the CsPbBr₃  with near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield, and meanwhile has special CPL, with a maximum luminescence dissymmetric factor (g_lum ) of -3.1 × 10^-3 , which is induced by Ch-CDs. This is the first report of chiral perovskite which is induced by other chiral nanomaterials. By anion exchange, CPL can cover almost the entire visible light band. Surprisingly, the chiral signal of Ch-CDs-CsPbBr₃  NCs is in-versed under excitation state, which can be induced by the charge transfers between Ch-CDs and perovskite NCs. The combination of perovskites and Ch-CDs pave away for the design of new chiral perovskite on multifunctional applications.

Impact of Bifunctional Ligands on Charge Transfer Kinetics in CsPbBr3-CdSe/CdS/ZnS Nanohybrids

Mixed dimensional nanohybrids (MDNHs) between zero-dimensional (0D) perovskites and two-dimensional (2D) II-VI semiconductors hold great potential for photonic device applications. An in-depth study to understand the shuttling of charge carriers is carried out utilizing bifunctional ligands such as 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP), p-aminobenzoic acid, and 6-amino-2-naphthoic acid in the synthesis of MDNHs of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) and CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell (CSS) nanoplatelets (NPLs). These MDNHs form donor-bridge-acceptor systems, where the electronic interaction is greatly influenced by the nature of ligands. The smaller size and stronger binding affinity of 4-ATP to CSS NPLs lead to a faster rate of charge transfer as compared to other linkers. Electronic structure calculations under the framework of density functional theory (DFT) confirms that in 4-ATP capped CSS NPLs, stronger electronic overlap occurs between CSS NPLs and 4-ATP at the valence band maxima (VBM). Furthermore, Poisson distribution modeling proposes that in 4-ATP linked MDNHs, the number of CSS NPLs around CsPbBr₃ NCs is highest.

Modulating optical properties and interfacial electron transfer of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals via indium ion and chlorine ion co-doping

In this work, we demonstrated an in situ approach for doping CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) with In³⁺ and Cl^- with a ligand-assisted precipitation method at room temperature. The In³⁺ and Cl^- co-doped NCs are characterized by the powder x-ray diffraction patterns, ultraviolet-visible, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, time-resolved PL (TRPL), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Based on PL and TRPL results, the non-radiative nature of In³⁺-doping induced localized impurity states is revealed. Furthermore, the impact of In³⁺ and Cl^- doping on charge transfer (CT) from the NCs to molecular acceptors was investigated and the results indicate that the CT at the interface of NCs can be tuned and promoted by In³⁺ and Cl^- co-doping. This enhanced CT is attributed to the enlarged energy difference between relevant states of the molecular acceptor and the NCs by In³⁺ and Cl^- upon co-doping. This work provides insight into how to control interfacial CT in perovskite NCs, which is important for optoelectronic applications.

Nonradiative Energy Transfer from CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals to CdSe/CdS Nanocrystals for Efficient Light Down Conversion

Semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are emerging luminescent materials with superior optical properties. However, the light-conversion application of NCs is restricted by reabsorption-induced fluorescent quenching. Here, a NC-NC Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) system is developed by employing large CsPbBr₃ NCs as donors and CdSe/CdS NCs as acceptors. The FRET systems using toluene and octadecene as solvents show decreases of 10% and 14%, respectively, in the integrated photoluminescence (PL) intensity, far below the reabsorption loss observed in concentrated CdSe/CdS NCs (>30%) at the same color purity. Notably, we demonstrate by transient absorption measurements that the styrene-mediated FRET system involves a Dexter energy transfer process, which enables the harvesting of triplet excitons and leads to an additional PL enhancement at system level by a maximum of 40% instead of fluorescence quenching. The remarkably improved light-conversion efficiency and antiquenching property make the proposed NC-NC system superior in light down-conversion applications.

State of the Art and Prospects for Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals

Metal-halide perovskites have rapidly emerged as one of the most promising materials of the 21st century, with many exciting properties and great potential for a broad range of applications, from photovoltaics to optoelectronics and photocatalysis. The ease with which metal-halide perovskites can be synthesized in the form of brightly luminescent colloidal nanocrystals, as well as their tunable and intriguing optical and electronic properties, has attracted researchers from different disciplines of science and technology. In the last few years, there has been a significant progress in the shape-controlled synthesis of perovskite nanocrystals and understanding of their properties and applications. In this comprehensive review, researchers having expertise in different fields (chemistry, physics, and device engineering) of metal-halide perovskite nanocrystals have joined together to provide a state of the art overview and future prospects of metal-halide perovskite nanocrystal research.

Effect of Surface Ligands in Perovskite Nanocrystals: Extending in and Reaching out

The rediscovery of the halide perovskite class of compounds and, in particular, the organic and inorganic lead halide perovskite (LHP) materials and lead-free derivatives has reached remarkable landmarks in numerous applications. First among these is the field of photovoltaics, which is at the core of today’s environmental sustainability efforts. Indeed, these efforts have born fruit, reaching to date a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 25.2% for a double-cation Cs, FA lead halide thin film device. Other applications include light and particle detectors as well as lighting. However, chemical and thermal degradation issues prevent perovskite-based devices and particularly photovoltaic modules from reaching the market. The soft ionic nature of LHPs makes these materials susceptible to delicate changes in the chemical environment. Therefore, control over their interface properties plays a critical role in maintaining their stability. Here we focus on LHP nanocrystals, where surface termination by ligands determines not only the stability of the material but also the crystallographic phase and crystal habit. A surface analysis of nanocrystal interfaces revealed the involvement of Brønsted type acid–base equilibrium in the modification of the ligand moieties present, which in turn can invoke dissolution and recrystallization into the more favorable phase in terms of minimization of the surface energy. A large library of surface ligands has already been developed showing both good chemical stability and good electronic surface passivation, resulting in near-unity emission quantum yields for some materials, particularly CsPbBr₃. However, most of those ligands have a large organic tail hampering charge carrier transport and extraction in nanocrystal-based solid films.

The unique perovskite structure that allows ligand substitution in the surface A (cation) sites and the soft ionic nature is expected to allow the accommodation of large dipoles across the perovskite crystal. This was shown to facilitate electron transfer across a molecular linked single-particle junction, creating a large built-in field across the junction nanodomains. This strategy could be useful for implementing LHP NCs in a p–n junction photovoltaic configuration as well as for a variety of electronic devices. A better understanding of the surface propeties of LHP nanocrystals will also enable better control of their growth on surfaces and in confined volumes, such as those afforded by metal–organic frameworks, zeolites, or chemically patterened surfaces such as anodic alumina, which have already been shown to significantly alter the properties of in-situ-grown LHP materials.

Charge Transfer in the Heterostructure of CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals with Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots

Heterostructures of inorganic halide perovskites with mixed-dimensional inorganic nanomaterials have shown great potential not only in the field of optoelectronic energy devices and photocatalysis but also for improving our fundamental understanding of the charge transfer across the heterostructure interface. Herein, we present for the first time the heterostructure integration of the CsPbBr₃ nanocrystal with an N-doped carbon dot. We explore the photoluminescence (PL) and photoconductivity of the heterostructure of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals and N-doped carbon dots. PL quenching of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals with the addition of N-doped carbon dots was observed. The photoexcited electrons from the conduction band of CsPbBr₃ are trapped in the N-acceptor state of N-doped carbon dots, and the charge transfer occurs via quasi type II-like electronic band alignment. The charge transfer in the halide perovskite-based heterostructure should motivate further research into the new heterostructure synthesis with perovskites and the fundamental understanding of the mechanism of charge/energy transfer across the heterostructure interface.

Heat-driven acoustic phonons in lamellar nanoplatelet assemblies

Colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets, with the electronic structure of quantum wells, self-assemble into lamellar stacks due to large co-facial van der Waals attractions. These lamellar stacks are shown to display coherent acoustic phonons that are detected from oscillatory changes in the absorption spectrum observed in infrared pump, electronic probe measurements. Rather than direct electronic excitation of the nanocrystals using a femtosecond laser, impulsive transfer of heat from the organic ligand shell, excited at C-H stretching vibrational resonances, to the inorganic core of individual nanoplatelets occurs on a time-scale of <100 ps. This heat transfer drives in-phase longitudinal acoustic phonons of the nanoplatelet lamellae, which are accompanied by subtle deformations along the nanoplatelet short axes. The frequencies of the oscillations vary from 0.7 to 2 GHz (3-8 μeV and 0.5-1 ns oscillation period) depending on the thickness of the nanoplatelets-but not their lateral areas-and the temperature of the sample. Temperature-dependence of the acoustic phonon frequency conveys a substantial stiffening of the organic ligand bonds between nanoplatelets with reduced temperature. These results demonstrate a potential for acoustic modulation of the excitonic structure of nanocrystal assemblies in self-assembled anisotropic semiconductor systems at temperatures at or above 300 K.

Tunable Metal Oxide Shell as a Spacer to Study Energy Transfer in Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are promising components in various optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices; however, the mechanism of energy transport in these materials remains to be further understood. Here, we investigate the distance dependence of the electronic interactions between CsPbBr₃ nanocubes and CdSe nanoplateles using an alumina (AlO_x) shell as a spacer. CsPbBr₃@AlO_x core@shell NCs are synthesized via colloidal atomic layer deposition (c-ALD), which allows us to fine-tune the oxide thickness and thus the distance d between the two NCs. This versatile material platform shows that the electronic interactions between the CsPbBr₃ NCs and the CdSe nanoplatelets can be tuned from electron to energy transfer by increasing the shell thickness, whereas previous studies on the same system had been limited to the former. Considering the applicability of the c-ALD to different NCs, we suggest that metal oxide shell spacers synthesized by this approach can generally be used to study energy-transfer mechanisms at the nanoscale.

Emergent Optoelectronic Properties of Mixed-Dimensional Heterojunctions

ConspectusThe electronic dimensionality of a material is defined by the number of spatial degrees of confinement of its electronic wave function. Low-dimensional semiconductor nanomaterials with at least one degree of spatial confinement have optoelectronic properties that are tunable with size and environment (dielectric and chemical) and are of particular interest for optoelectronic applications such as light detection, light harvesting, and photocatalysis. By combining nanomaterials of differing dimensionalities, mixed-dimensional heterojunctions (MDHJs) exploit the desirable characteristics of their components. For example, the strong optical absorption of zero-dimensional (0D) materials combined with the high charge carrier mobilities of two-dimensional (2D) materials widens the spectral response and enhances the responsivity of mixed-dimensional photodetectors, which has implications for ultrathin, flexible optoelectronic devices. MDHJs are highly sensitive to (i) interfacial chemistry because of large surface area-to-volume ratios and (ii) electric fields, which are incompletely screened because of the ultrathin nature of MDHJs. This sensitivity presents opportunities for control of physical phenomena in MDHJs through chemical modification, optical excitation, externally applied electric fields, and other environmental parameters. Since this fast-moving research area is beginning to pose and answer fundamental questions that underlie the fundamental optoelectronic behavior of MDHJs, it is an opportune time to assess progress and suggest future directions in this field.In this Account, we first outline the characteristic properties, advantages, and challenges for low-dimensional materials, many of which arise as a result of quantum confinement effects. The optoelectronic properties and performance of MDHJs are primarily determined by dynamics of excitons and charge carriers at their interfaces, where these particles tunnel, trap, scatter, and/or recombine on the time scales of tens of femtoseconds to hundreds of nanoseconds. We discuss several photophysical phenomena that deviate from those observed in bulk heterojunctions, as well as factors that can be used to vary, probe, and ultimately control the behavior of excitons and charge carriers in MDHJ systems. We then discuss optoelectronic applications of MDHJs, namely, photodetectors, photovoltaics, and photocatalysts, and identify current performance limits compared to state-of-the-art benchmarks. Finally, we suggest strategies to extend the current understanding of dynamics in MDHJs toward the realization of stimuli-driven responses, particularly with respect to exciton delocalization, quantum emission, interfacial morphology, responsivity to external stimuli, spin selectivity, and usage of chemically reactive materials.

In situ preparation of a CsPbBr3/black phosphorus heterostructure with an optimized interface and photodetector application

Zero-dimensional (0D)-2D nanostructures, which combine the efficient light-harvesting properties of 0D nanocrystals (NCs) and the ultrafast carrier transfer of 2D materials, have been widely used in optoelectronic devices. Although the most common way to fabricate 0D-2D nanostructures consists of a mixing process, the limited loading efficiency of NCs and the poor 0D-2D interface hinder the efficient photo-carrier generation and fast carrier separation/transfer in such systems. Herein, the in situ synthesis of CsPbBr3/BP heterostructures via a hot-injection method was presented, revealing that both the formation process of CsPbBr3 NCs and the CsPbBr3/black phosphorous (BP) interfaces presented pronounced changes. This led to a larger CsPbBr3 NC size, higher CsPbBr3 NC loading efficiency, optimized combination of CsPbBr3 and BP at the interface, and enhanced carrier transfer properties. In addition, the in situ synthesized CsPbBr3/BP heterostructure was used as a photoactive material for the fabrication of photodetectors, which showed high detectivity (D*) of 2.6 × 1011 Jones. This work highlights a novel strategy to optimize the 0D-2D heterostructure interface and to promote its carrier transfer efficiency, broadening the field of the applications of mixed-dimensional nanostructures.

Mutual Energy Transfer in a Binary Colloidal Quantum Well Complex

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a fundamental process that is key to optical biosensing, photosynthetic light harvesting, and down-converted light emission. However, in total, conventional FRET in a donor-acceptor pair is essentially unidirectional, which impedes practical application of FRET-based technologies. Here, we propose a mutual FRET scheme that is uniquely bidirectional in a binary colloidal quantum well (CQW) complex enabled by utilizing the d orbital electrons in a dopant-host CQW system. Steady-state emission intensity, time-resolved, and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopies have demonstrated that two distinct CQWs play the role of donor and acceptor simultaneously in this complex consisting of 3 monolayer (ML) copper-doped CQWs and 4 ML undoped CQWs. Band-edge excitons in 3 ML CQWs effectively transfer the excitation to excitons in 4 ML CQWs, whose energy is also harvested backward by the dopants in 3 ML CQWs. This binary CQW complex, which offers a unique mutual energy-transfer mechanism, may unlock revolutionary FRET-based technologies.

Core-Shell Cadmium Telluride Quantum Platelets with Absorptions Spanning the Visible Spectrum

CdS and CdSe shells are deposited on wurtzite CdTe quantum platelets (nanoplatelets) by exchanging the initial primary-amine ligation to Cd(OAc)₂ ligation, with subsequent reaction of the Cd(OAc)₂ ligand shell and thiourea or selenourea, respectively. Shell deposition is conducted in a cyclic manner, with 0.21-0.34 monolayers of CdS and 0.99-1.20 monolayers of CdSe being deposited in each cycle. The CdTe quantum platelets having an initial thickness of 1.9 nm are converted to CdTe-CdS and CdTe-CdSe core-shell quantum platelets having maximum thicknesses of 3.0 and 6.3 nm, respectively. The morphologies and wurtzite structure of the initial CdTe quantum platelets are retained upon shell deposition. The absorption spectrum of the CdTe quantum platelets is progressively shifted to lower energy with increasing shell thickness, across the entire visible spectrum. The spectral shifts observed scale with the inverse square of the total core-shell thickness.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics of metal halide perovskite nanocrystals and perovskite-composites

Perovskite nanocrystals (NCs), especially those based on cesium lead halides, have emerged in recent years as highly promising materials for efficient solar cells and photonic applications. The key to realization of full potential of these materials lies however in the molecular level understanding of the processes triggered by light. Herein we highlight the knowledge gained from photophysical investigations on these NCs of various sizes and compositions employing primarily the femtosecond pump-probe technique. We show how spectral and temporal characterization of the photo-induced transients provide insight into the mechanism and dynamics of relaxation of hot and thermalized charge carriers through their recombination and trapping. We discuss how the multiple excitons including the charged ones (trions), generated using high pump fluence or photon energy, recombine through the Auger-assisted process. We discussed the harvesting of hot carriers prior to their cooling and band-edge carriers from these perovskite NCs to wide band-gap metal oxides, metal chalcogenide NCs and molecular acceptors. How perovskites can influence the charge carrier dynamics in composites of organic and inorganic semiconductors is also discussed.

Engineering ultrafast charge transfer in a bismuthene/perovskite nanohybrid

In this work, 0-dimensional (0D) CsPbBr3 QDs were integrated with 2D bismuthene having ultrafast carrier mobility, to obtain a 0D/2D nanohybrid. Moreover, an excellent charge transfer efficiency (0.53) and an appreciable quenching constant of 2.3 × 105 M-1 were observed. Tuning the ratio of bismuthene in the Bi/perovskite nanohybrid achieved the quantified control of charge transfer efficiency and quenching performance at the interface.

Flexible Polymer-Assisted Mesoscale Self-Assembly of Colloidal CsPbBr3 Perovskite Nanocrystals into Higher Order Superstructures with Strong Inter-Nanocrystal Electronic Coupling

Surface-passivating ligands, although ubiquitous to colloidal nanocrystal (NC) syntheses, play a role in assembling NCs into higher order structures and hierarchical superstructures, which has not been demonstrated yet for colloidal CsPbX₃ (X = Cl, Br, and I) NCs. In this work, we report that functional poly(ethylene glycols) (PEG₆-Y, Y = -COOH and -NH₂) represent unique surface-passivating ligands enabling the synthesis of near-uniform CsPbBr₃ NCs with diameters of 3.0 nm. The synthesized NCs are assembled into individual pearl necklaces, bundled pearl necklaces, lamellar, and nanorice superstructures, in situ. It is believed a variety of forces, including van der Waals attractions between hydrophilic PEG tails in a nonpolar solvent and dipole-dipole attraction between NCs, drive mesoscale assembly to form superstructures. Furthermore, postsynthetic ligand treatment strengthens the argument for polymer-assisted mesoscale assembly as pearl necklace assemblies can be successfully converted into either lamellar or nanorice structures. We observe an ∼240 meV bathochromic shift in the lowest energy absorption peak of CsPbBr₃ NCs when they are present in the lamellar and nanorice assemblies, representing strong inter-NC electronic coupling. Moreover, pearl necklace structures are spontaneously assembled into micrometer length scale twisted ribbon hierarchical superstructures during storage of colloidal CsPbBr₃ NCs. The results show that the self-assembled superstructures of CsPbBr₃ NCs are now feasible to prepare via template-free synthesis, as self-assembled structures emerge in the bulk solvent, a process that mimics biological systems except for the use of nonbiological surface ligands (PEG₆-Y). Taken together, emergent optoelectronic properties and higher order superstructures of CsPbBr₃ NCs should aid their potential use in solid-state devices and simplify scalable manufacturing.