Room Temperature Coherently Coupled Exciton-Polaritons in Two-Dimensional Organic-Inorganic Perovskite

Long-Range Ballistic Propagation of 80% Excitonic Fraction Polaritons in a Perovskite Metasurface at Room Temperature

Exciton-polaritons, hybrid light-matter excitations arising from the strong coupling between excitons in semiconductors and photons in photonic nanostructures, are crucial for exploring the physics of quantum fluids of light and developing all-optical devices. Achieving room temperature propagation of polaritons with a large excitonic fraction is challenging but vital, e.g., for nonlinear light transport. We report on room temperature propagation of exciton-polaritons in a metasurface made from a subwavelength lattice of perovskite pillars. The large Rabi splitting, much greater than the optical phonon energy, decouples the lower polariton band from the phonon bath of the perovskite. These cooled polaritons, in combination with the high group velocity achieved through the metasurface design, enable long-range propagation, exceeding hundreds of micrometers even with an 80% excitonic component. Furthermore, the design of the metasurface introduces an original mechanism for unidirectional propagation through polarization control, suggesting a new avenue for the development of advanced polaritonic devices.

Origin of Exciton-Polariton Interactions and Decoupled Dark States Dynamics in 2D Hybrid Perovskite Quantum Wells

The realization of efficient optical devices depends on the ability to harness strong nonlinearities, which are challenging to achieve with standard photonic systems. Exciton-polaritons formed in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites offer a promising alternative, exhibiting strong interactions at room temperature (RT). Despite recent demonstrations showcasing a robust nonlinear response, further progress is hindered by an incomplete understanding of the microscopic mechanisms governing polariton interactions in perovskite-based strongly coupled systems. Here, we investigate the nonlinear properties of quasi-2D dodecylammonium lead iodide perovskite (n3-C12) crystals embedded in a planar microcavity. Polarization-resolved pump-probe measurements reveal the contribution of indirect exchange interactions assisted by dark states formation. Additionally, we identify a strong dependence of the unique spin-dependent interaction of polaritons on sample detuning. The results are pivotal for the advancement of polaritonics, and the tunability of the robust spin-dependent anisotropic interaction in n3-C12 perovskites makes this material a powerful choice for the realization of polaritonic circuits.

Spatial photoluminescence and lifetime mappings of quasi-2D perovskites coupled with a dielectric metasurface

Light-matter interaction between quantum emitters and optical cavities plays a vital role in fundamental quantum photonics and the development of optoelectronics. Resonant metasurfaces are proven to be an efficient platform for tailoring the spontaneous emission (SE) of the emitters. In this work, we study the interplay between quasi-2D perovskites and dielectric TiO2 metasurfaces. The metasurface, functioning as an open cavity, enhances electric fields near its plane, thereby influencing the emissions of the perovskite. This is verified through angle-resolved photoluminescence (PL) studies. We also conducted reflectivity measurements and numerical simulations to validate the coupling between the quasi-2D perovskites and photonic modes. Notably, our work introduces a spatial mapping approach to study Purcell enhancement. Using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), we directly link the PL and lifetimes of the quasi-2D perovskites in spatial distribution when positioned on the metasurface. This correlation provides unprecedented insights into emitter distribution and emitter-resonator interactions. The methodology opens a new (to the best of our knowledge) approach for studies in quantum optics, optoelectronics, and medical imaging by enabling spatial mapping of both PL intensity and lifetime, differentiating between uncoupled quantum emitters and those coupled with different types of resonators.

Selective Excitation of Exciton-Polariton Condensate Modes in an Annular Perovskite Microcavity

Exciton-polariton systems composed of a light-matter quasi-particle with a light effective mass easily realize Bose-Einstein condensation. In this work, we constructed an annular trap in a halide perovskite semiconductor microcavity and observed the spontaneous formation of symmetrical petal-shaped exciton-polariton condensation in the annular trap at room temperature. In our study, we found that the number of petals of the petal-shaped exciton-polariton condensates, which is decided by the orbital angular momentum, is dependent on the light intensity distribution. Therefore, the selective excitation of perovskite microcavity exciton-polariton condensates under all-optical control can be realized by adjusting the light intensity distribution. This could pave the way to room-temperature topological devices, optical cryptographical devices, and new quantum gyroscopes in the exciton-polariton system.

Superior Phonon-Limited Exciton Mobility in Lead-Free Two-Dimensional Perovskites

Tin-based two-dimensional (2D) perovskites are emerging as lead-free alternatives in halide perovskite materials, yet their exciton dynamics and transport remain less understood due to defect scattering. Addressing this, we employed temperature-dependent transient photoluminescence (PL) microscopy to investigate intrinsic exciton transport in three structurally analogous Sn- and Pb-based 2D perovskites. Employing conjugated ligands, we synthesized high-quality crystals with enhanced phase stability at various temperatures. Our results revealed phonon-limited exciton transport in Sn perovskites, with diffusion constants increasing from 0.2 cm2 s-1 at room temperature to 0.6 cm2 s-1 at 40 K, and a narrowing PL line width. Notably, Sn-based perovskites exhibited greater exciton mobility than their Pb-based equivalents, which is attributed to lighter effective masses. Thermally activated optical phonon scattering was observed in Sn-based compounds but was absent in Pb-based materials. These findings, supported by molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrate that the phonon scattering mechanism in Sn-based halide perovskites can be distinct from their Pb counterparts.

Anapole assisted self-hybridized exciton-polaritons in perovskite metasurfaces

The exciton-polaritons in a lead halide perovskite not only have great significance for macroscopic quantum effects but also possess vital potential for applications in ultralow-threshold polariton lasers, integrated photonics, slow-light devices, and quantum light sources. In this study, we have successfully demonstrated strong coupling with huge Rabi splitting of 553 meV between perovskite excitons and anapole modes in the perovskite metasurface at room temperature. This outcome is achieved by introducing anapole modes to suppress radiative losses, thereby confining light to the perovskite metasurface and subsequently hybridizing it with excitons in the same material. Our results indicate the formation of self-hybridized exciton-polaritons within the perovskite metasurface, which may pave the way towards achieving high coupling strengths that could potentially bring exciting phenomena to fruition, such as Bose-Einstein condensation as well as enabling applications such as efficient light-emitting diodes and lasers.

Floquet Engineering of Excitons in Two-Dimensional Halide Perovskites via Biexciton States

Layered two-dimensional halide perovskites (2DHPs) exhibit exciting non-equilibrium properties that allow the manipulation of energy levels through coherent light-matter interactions. Under the Floquet picture, novel quantum states manifest through the optical Stark effect (OSE) following intense subresonant photoexcitation. Nevertheless, a detailed understanding of the influence of strong many-body interactions between excitons on the OSE in 2DHPs remains unclear. Herein, we uncover the crucial role of biexcitons in photon-dressed states and demonstrate precise optical control of the excitonic states via the biexcitonic OSE in 2DHPs. With fine step tuning of the driven energy, we fully parametrize the evolution of exciton resonance modulation. The biexcitonic OSE enables Floquet engineering of the exciton resonance with either a blue-shift or a red-shift of the energy levels. Our findings shed new light on the intricate nature of coherent light-matter interactions in 2DHPs and extend the degree of freedom for ultrafast coherent optical control over excitonic states.

Motional Narrowing through Photonic Exchange: Rational Suppression of Excitonic Disorder from Molecular Cavity Polariton Formation

Maximizing the coherence between the constituents of molecular materials remains a crucial goal toward the implementation of these systems into everyday optoelectronic technologies. Here we experimentally assess the ability of strong light-matter coupling in the collective limit to reduce energetic disorder using porphyrin-based chromophores in Fabry-Pérot (FP) microresonator structures. Following characterization of cavity polaritons formed from chemically distinct porphyrin dimers, we find that the peaks corresponding to the lower polariton (LP) state in each sample do not possess widths consistent with conventional theories. We model the behavior of the polariton peak widths effectively using the results of spectroscopic theory. We correlate differences in the suppression of excitonic energetic disorder between our samples with microscopic light-matter interactions and propose that the suppression stems from photonic exchange. Our results demonstrate that cavity polariton formation can suppress disorder and show researchers how to design coherence into hybrid molecular material systems.

Bright Excitonic Fine Structure in Metal-Halide Perovskites: From Two-Dimensional to Bulk

The optical response of two-dimensional (2D) perovskites, often referred to as natural quantum wells, is primarily governed by excitons, whose properties can be readily tuned by adjusting the perovskite layer thickness. We have investigated the exciton fine structure splitting in the archetypal 2D perovskite (PEA)2(MA)n-1PbnI3n+1 with varying numbers of inorganic octahedral layers n = 1, 2, 3, and 4. We demonstrate that the in-plane excitonic states exhibit splitting and orthogonally oriented dipoles for all confinement regimes. The evolution of the exciton states in an external magnetic field provides further insights into the g-factors and diamagnetic coefficients. With increasing n, we observe a gradual evolution of the excitonic parameters characteristic of a 2D to three-dimensional transition. Our results provide valuable information concerning the evolution of the optoelectronic properties of 2D perovskites with the changing confinement strength.

High Q-Factor Single-Mode Lasing in Inorganic Perovskite Microcavities with Microfocusing Field Confinement

The realization of high-Q single-mode lasing on the microscale is significant for the advancement of on-chip integrated light sources. It remains a challenging trade-off between Q-factor enhancement and light-field localization to raise the lasing emission rate. Here, we fabricated a zero-dimensional perovskite microcavity integrated with a nondamage pressed microlens to three-dimensionally tailor the intracavity light field and demonstrated linearly and nonlinearly (two-photon) pumped lasing by this microfocusing configuration. Notably, the microlensing microcavity experimentally achieves a high Q-factor (16700), high polarization (99.6%), and high Purcell factor (11.40) single-mode lasing under high-repetition pulse pumping. Three-dimensional light-field confinement formed by the microlens and plate microcavity simultaneously reduces the mode volume (∼3.66 μm3) and suppresses diffraction and transverse walk-off loss, which induces discretization on energy-momentum dispersions and spatial electromagnetic-field distributions. The Q factor and Purcell factor of our lasing come out on top among most of the reported perovskite microcavities, paving a promising avenue toward further studying electrically driven on-chip microlasers.

Dynamics of self-hybridized exciton-polaritons in 2D halide perovskites

Excitons, bound electron-hole pairs, in two-dimensional hybrid organic inorganic perovskites (2D HOIPs) are capable of forming hybrid light-matter states known as exciton-polaritons (E-Ps) when the excitonic medium is confined in an optical cavity. In the case of 2D HOIPs, they can self-hybridize into E-Ps at specific thicknesses of the HOIP crystals that form a resonant optical cavity with the excitons. However, the fundamental properties of these self-hybridized E-Ps in 2D HOIPs, including their role in ultrafast energy and/or charge transfer at interfaces, remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that >0.5 µm thick 2D HOIP crystals on Au substrates are capable of supporting multiple-orders of self-hybridized E-P modes. These E-Ps have high Q factors (>100) and modulate the optical dispersion for the crystal to enhance sub-gap absorption and emission. Through varying excitation energy and ultrafast measurements, we also confirm energy transfer from higher energy E-Ps to lower energy E-Ps. Finally, we also demonstrate that E-Ps are capable of charge transport and transfer at interfaces. Our findings provide new insights into charge and energy transfer in E-Ps opening new opportunities towards their manipulation for polaritonic devices.

Exciton Polaritons in Emergent Two-Dimensional Semiconductors

The "marriage" of light (i.e., photon) and matter (i.e., exciton) in semiconductors leads to the formation of hybrid quasiparticles called exciton polaritons with fascinating quantum phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) and photon blockade. The research of exciton polaritons has been evolving into an era with emergent two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors and photonic structures for their tremendous potential to break the current limitations of quantum fundamental study and photonic applications. In this Perspective, the basic concepts of 2D excitons, optical resonators, and the strong coupling regime are introduced. The research progress of exciton polaritons is reviewed, and important discoveries (especially the recent ones of 2D exciton polaritons) are highlighted. Subsequently, the emergent 2D exciton polaritons are discussed in detail, ranging from the realization of the strong coupling regime in various photonic systems to the discoveries of attractive phenomena with interesting physics and extensive applications. Moreover, emerging 2D semiconductors, such as 2D perovskites (2DPK) and 2D antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconductors, are surveyed for the manipulation of exciton polaritons with distinct control degrees of freedom (DOFs). Finally, the outlook on the 2D exciton polaritons and their nonlinear interactions is presented with our initial numerical simulations. This Perspective not only aims to provide an in-depth overview of the latest fundamental findings in 2D exciton polaritons but also attempts to serve as a valuable resource to prospect explorations of quantum optics and topological photonic applications.

Pressure Coupled Lanthanide Ion Doping to Enhance Optical Properties in BaTiO3

Self-trapped excitons (STEs) typically give broadband photoluminescence emission with a large Stokes shift, which is important for the enhancement of the optical properties of materials. Here, low-dimensional La-doped BaTiO3 nanocrystals with defects are prepared using supercritical CO2 (SC CO2 ). The generation of the STEs is facilitated by doping La3+ ions and introducing CO2 pressure, which effectively enhance the luminescence intensity of BaTiO3 . This discovery shows that the La ion doping concentration can modulate the photoluminescence of BaTiO3 nanocrystals under pressure. This work deepens the understanding of the influence of rare-earth-doped luminescent materials under pressure and provides insight to improve the capabilities of optical devices.

Chiroptical Response Inversion and Enhancement of Room-Temperature Exciton-Polaritons Using 2D Chirality in Perovskites

Although chiral semiconductors have shown promising progress in direct circularly polarized light (CPL) detection and emission, they still face potential challenges. A chirality-switching mechanism or approach integrating two enantiomers is needed to discriminate the handedness of a given CPL; additionally, a large material volume is required for sufficient chiroptical interaction. These two requirements pose significant obstacles to the simplification and miniaturization of the devices. Here, room-temperature chiral polaritons fulfilling dual-handedness functions and exhibiting a more-than-two-order enhancement of the chiroptical signal are demonstrated, by embedding a 40 nm-thick perovskite film with a 2D chiroptical effect into a Fabry-Pérot cavity. By mixing chiral perovskites with different crystal structures, a pronounced 2D chiroptical effect is accomplished in the perovskite film, featured by an inverted chiroptical response for counter-propagating CPL. This inversion behavior matches the photonic handedness switch during CPL circulation in the Fabry-Pérot cavity, thus harvesting giant enhancement of the chiroptical response. Furthermore, affected by the unique quarter-wave-plate effects, the polariton emission achieves a chiral dissymmetry of ±4% (for the emission from the front and the back sides). The room-temperature polaritons with the strong dissymmetric chiroptical interaction shall have implications on a fundamental level and future on-chip applications for biomolecule analysis and quantum computing.

Optoelectronic Devices of Large-Scale Transferred All-Inorganic Lead Halide Perovskite Thin Films

We report the large-scale transfer process for monocrystalline CsPbBr₃ thin films prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with excellent optical properties and stability. The transfer process is robust, simple, and effective, in which CsPbBr₃ thin films could be transferred to several substrates and effectively avoid chemical or physical fabrication processes to damage the perovskite surface. Moreover, the transfer process endows CsPbBr₃ and substrates with atomically clean and electronically flat interfaces. We utilize this transfer process to realize several optoelectronic devices, including a photonic laser with a threshold of 61 μJ/cm², a photodetector with a responsivity of 2.4 A/W, and a transistor with a hole mobility of 11.47 cm² V^-1 s^-1. High device performances mainly originate from low defects of high-quality single-crystal perovskite and seamless contact between CsPbBr₃ and target substrates. The large-scale nondestructive transfer process provides promising opportunities for optoelectronic applications based on monocrystalline perovskites.

Microscopic Theory of Multimode Polariton Dispersion in Multilayered Materials

We develop a microscopic theory for the multimode polariton dispersion in materials coupled to cavity radiation modes. Starting from a microscopic light-matter Hamiltonian, we devise a general strategy for obtaining simple matrix models of polariton dispersion curves based on the structure and spatial location of multilayered 2D materials inside the optical cavity. Our theory exposes the connections between seemingly distinct models that have been employed in the literature and resolves an ambiguity that has arisen concerning the experimental description of the polaritonic band structure. We demonstrate the applicability of our theoretical formalism by fabricating various geometries of multilayered perovskite materials coupled to cavities and demonstrating that our theoretical predictions agree with the experimental results presented here.

Directional Emission from Electrically Injected Exciton-Polaritons in Perovskite Metasurfaces

We present a new approach to achieving strong coupling between electrically injected excitons and photonic bound states in the continuum of a dielectric metasurface. Here a high-finesse metasurface cavity is monolithically patterned in the channel of a perovskite light-emitting transistor to induce a large Rabi splitting of ∼200 meV and more than 50-fold enhancement of the polaritonic emission compared to the intrinsic excitonic emission of the perovskite film. Moreover, the directionality of polaritonic electroluminescence can be dynamically tuned by varying the source-drain bias, which induces an asymmetric distribution of exciton population within the transistor channel. We argue that this approach provides a new platform to study strong light-matter interactions in dispersion engineered photonic cavities under electrical injection and paves the way to solution-processed electrically pumped polariton lasers.

Fabry-Perot Oscillation and Resonance Energy Transfer: Mechanism for Ultralow-Threshold Optically and Electrically Driven Random Laser in Quasi-2D Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskites

The recently emerged metal-halide hybrid perovskite (MHP) possesses superb optoelectronic features, which have obtained great attention in solid-state lighting, photodetection, and photovoltaic applications. Because of its excellent external quantum efficiency, MHP has promising potential for the manifestation of ultralow threshold optically pumped laser. However, the demonstration of an electrically driven laser remains a challenge because of the vulnerable degradation of perovskite, limited exciton binding energy (E_b), intensity quenching, and efficiency drop by nonradiative recombinations. In this work, based on the paradigm of integration of Fabry-Perot (F-P) oscillation and resonance energy transfer, we observed an ultralow-threshold (∼250 μWcm^-2) optically pumped random laser from moisture-insensitive mixed dimensional quasi-2D Ruddlesden-Popper phase perovskite microplates. Particularly, we demonstrated an electrically driven multimode laser with a threshold of ∼60 mAcm^-2 from quasi-2D RPP by judicious combination of a perovskite/hole transport layer (HTL) and an electron transport layer (ETL) having suitable band alignment and thickness. Additionally, we showed the tunability of lasing modes and color by driving an external electric potential. Performing finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations, we confirmed the presence of F-P feedback resonance, the light trapping effect at perovskite/ETL, and resonance energy transfer contributing to laser action. Our discovery of an electrically driven laser from MHP opens a useful avenue for developing future optoelectronics.

Room-Temperature Continuous-Wave Microcavity Lasers from Solution-Processed Smooth Quasi-2D Perovskite Films with Low Thresholds

Continuous-wave (CW) lasing in quasi-two-dimensional (2D) perovskite-based distributed feedback cavities has been achieved at room temperature; however, CW microcavity lasers comprising distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) have rarely been prepared using solution-processed quasi-2D perovskite films because the roughness of perovskite films significantly increases intersurface scattering loss in the microcavity. Herein, high-quality spin-coated quasi-2D perovskite gain films were prepared using an antisolvent to reduce roughness. The highly reflective top DBR mirrors were deposited via room-temperature e-beam evaporation to protect the perovskite gain layer. Lasing emission of the prepared quasi-2D perovskite microcavity lasers under CW optical pumping was clearly observed at room temperature, featuring a low threshold of ∼1.4 W cm^-2 and beam divergence of ∼3.5°. It was concluded that these lasers originated from weakly coupled excitons. These results elucidate the importance of controlling the roughness of quasi-2D films to achieve CW lasing, thus facilitating the design of electrically pumped perovskite microcavity lasers.

Triple Threshold Transitions and Strong Polariton Interaction in 2D Layered Metal-Organic Framework Microplates

Room-temperature interaction between light-matter hybrid particles such as exciton-polaritons under extremely low-pump plays a crucial role in future coherent quantum light sources. However, the practical and scalable realization of coherent quantum light sources operating under low-pump remains a challenge because of the insufficient polariton interaction strength. Here, at room temperature, a very large polariton interaction strength is demonstrated, g ≈ 128 ± 21 µeV µm² realized in a 2D nanolayered metal-organic framework (MOF). As a result, a polariton lasing at an extremely low pump fluence of P₁  ≈ 0.01 ± 0.0015 µJ cm^-2 (first threshold) is observed. Interestingly, as pump fluence increases to P₂  ≈ 0.031 ± 0.003 µJ cm^-2 (second threshold), a spontaneous transition to a polariton breakdown region occurs, which has not been reported before. Finally, an ordinary photon lasing occurs at P₃  ≈ 0.11 ± 0.077 µJ cm^-2 (third threshold), or above. These experiments and the theoretical model reveal new insights into the transition mechanisms characterized by three distinct optical regions. This work introduces MOF as a new type of quantum material, with naturally formed polariton cavities, that is a cost-effective and scalable solution to build microscale coherent quantum light sources and polaritonic devices.

Application of perovskites in bioimaging: the state-of-the-art and future developments

BACKGROUND

Recently, the development of perovskite-based nanocrystals for sustainable applications in bioimaging and clinical diagnostics have become a very active area of research. From 2D hybrid to zero-dimensional quantum dots (QDs), perovskites along with a variety of characteristic features, specifically non-linear optoelectronics properties, have attracted enormous research attention. These characteristics can be tuned by the type of cations or anions and their ratio used in host perovskites. Carrier doping and chemical modifications are additional alternatives to control optical and magnetism in radiodiagnostics.

AREA COVERED

This review begins by explaining the physical phenomena associated with luminescence or optical features of novel perovskites in diagnostic applications. Moreover, reported oxide, halide, doped, and QDs-based nanoprobes were elaborated. At last, the need for novel perovskite development, for example, persistent luminescent and low cytotoxicity is discussed, and the futuristic perspective of perovskites in clinical diagnostics with real-time demonstration is explained.

EXPERT OPINION

Our article concludes that hybrid perovskites, including metal-free, core-shell nanocomposites-based, and alloy-based perovskites, exhibit tunable bandgap and high photoluminescence quantum yields which ultimately result in high optical features. However, given limited understanding of ion transport mechanisms and dependency on environmental conditions of the perovskites, more research is needed.

Two-Photon Lasing from Two-Dimensional Homologous Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite with Giant Nonlinear Absorption and Natural Microcavities

Two-dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites (RPPs) with multiple quantum well-like structures, strong excitonic quantum confinement, and high stability are promising optical gain media. However, the lasing from such material with a small number of inorganic well layers is difficult to achieve. Herein, we demonstrate the low-threshold upconversion lasing from the homologous RPP (PEA)₂(MA)_n-1Pb_nI_3n+1 (n = 2 and 3) microflakes with wavelength varies from 598 to 637 nm under 800 nm laser excitation at low temperature (≤153 K). Using the micro Z-scan technique, we discovered that the RPP flakes have a giant two-photon absorption coefficient β as high as 3.6 × 10³ cm GW^-1, resulting in the effective upconversion transition under two-photon excitation. Furthermore, the self-formation of Fabry-Pérot microcavities provides the support for lasing emission from the n ≥ 2 RPP flakes. Calculation results and microscopic transient absorption measurements reveal that low-threshold lasing is due to the high differential gain coefficient and the suppressed nonradiative Auger recombination rate inside the quantum confinement structures. These properties enable RPPs as potential gain media for developing upconversion microcavity lasers.

Electric Field Modulation of 2D Perovskite Excitonics

Multiquantum-well (MQW) perovskite is one of the forerunners in high-efficiency perovskite LED (PeLEDs) research. Despite the rapid inroads, PeLEDs suffer from the pertinent issue of efficiency decrease with increasing brightness, commonly known as "efficiency roll-off". The underlying mechanisms are presently an open question. Herein, we explicate the E-field effects on the exciton states in the archetypal MQW perovskite (C₆H₅C₂H₄NH₃)₂PbI₄, or PEPI, in a device-like architecture using field-assisted transient spectroscopy and theoretical modeling. The applied E-field results in a complex interplay of spectral blueshifts and enhancement/quenching of the different exciton modes. The former originates from the DC Stark shift, while the latter is attributed to the E-field modulation of the transfer rates between bright/dark exciton modes. Importantly, our findings uncover crucial insights into the photophysical processes under E-field modulation contributing to efficiency roll-off in MQW PeLEDs. Electrical modulation of exciton properties presents exciting possibilities for signal processing devices.

Electrically Pumped Polarized Exciton-Polaritons in a Halide Perovskite Microcavity

Recently, exciton-polaritons in lead halide perovskite microcavities have been extensively investigated to address striking phenomena such as polariton condensation and quantum emulation. However, a critical step in advancing these findings into practical applications, i.e., realizing electrically pumped perovskite polariton light-emitting devices, has not yet been presented. Here, we devise a new method to combine the device with a microcavity and report the first halide perovskite polariton light-emitting device. Specifically, the device is based on a CsPbBr₃ capacitive structure, which can inject the electrons and holes from the same electrode, conducive to the formation of excitons and simultaneously maintaining the high quality of the microcavity. In addition, highly polarized polariton emissions have been demonstrated due to the optical birefringence in the CsPbBr₃ microplate. This work paves the way for realizing practical polaritonic devices such as high-speed light-emitting devices for information communications and inversionless electrically pumped lasers based on perovskites.

Manipulating polariton condensates by Rashba-Dresselhaus coupling at room temperature

Spin-orbit coupling plays an important role in the spin Hall effect and topological insulators. Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling show remarkable quantum phase transition. In this work we control an exciton polariton condensate – a macroscopically coherent state of hybrid light and matter excitations – by virtue of the Rashba-Dresselhaus (RD) spin-orbit coupling. This is achieved in a liquid-crystal filled microcavity where CsPbBr₃ perovskite microplates act as the gain material at room temperature. Specifically, we realize an artificial gauge field acting on the CsPbBr₃ exciton polariton condensate, splitting the condensate fractions with opposite spins in both momentum and real space. Besides the ground states, higher-order discrete polariton modes can also be split by the RD effect. Our work paves the way to manipulate exciton polariton condensates with a synthetic gauge field based on the RD spin-orbit coupling at room temperature.

Engineered spin-orbit coupling can induce novel quantum phases in a Bose-Einstein condensate, however such demonstrations have been limited to cold atom systems. Here the authors realize a exciton-polarion condensate with tunable spin-orbit coupling in a liquid crystal microcavity at room temperature.

Ultralow Threshold Room Temperature Polariton Condensation in Colloidal CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Nanoplatelets

Room-temperature exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), a phase transition to single quantum state with strong nonlinearity, provides a new strategy for coherent light sources and ultralow threshold optic switches. In this work, colloidal CdSe/CdS 2D nanoplatelets are embedded into a microcavity, and exciton-polariton BEC is realized with an ultralow threshold of 0.5 µJ cm^-2 at room temperature. The superlinear power-dependent emission, macroscopic occupation of the ground state, strong blueshift and broadening of the emission peak, and long-range coherence strongly confirm the realization of the polariton laser. This work suggests considerable prospects for colloidal nanoplatelets in low-cost, high-performance polariton devices, and coherent light sources.

Polariton Dynamics in Two-Dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskites Strongly Coupled with Plasmonic Lattices

Strong coupling between light and matter can produce hybrid eigenstates known as exciton-polaritons. Although polariton dynamics are important photophysical properties, the relaxation pathways of polaritons in different coupling regimes have seen limited attention. This paper reports the dynamics of hybridized states from 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites coupled to plasmonic nanoparticle lattices. The open cavity architecture of Al lattices enables the coupling strength to be modulated by varying either the lead halide perovskite film thickness or the superstrate refractive index. Both experiments and finite-difference time-domain simulations of the optical dispersion diagrams showed avoided crossings that are a signature of strong coupling. Our analytical model also elucidated the correlation between the exciton/plasmon mixing ratio and polariton coupling strength. Using fs-transient absorption spectroscopy, we found that both the upper and lower polaritons have shorter lifetimes than the excitons and that polaritons can show faster excited-state dynamics when they have access to additional energy transfer channels.

Colloidal Metal-Halide Perovskite Nanoplatelets: Thickness-Controlled Synthesis, Properties, and Application in Light-Emitting Diodes

Colloidal metal-halide perovskite nanocrystals (MHP NCs) are gaining significant attention for a wide range of optoelectronics applications owing to their exciting properties, such as defect tolerance, near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield, and tunable emission across the entire visible wavelength range. Although the optical properties of MHP NCs are easily tunable through their halide composition, they suffer from light-induced halide phase segregation that limits their use in devices. However, MHPs can be synthesized in the form of colloidal nanoplatelets (NPls) with monolayer (ML)-level thickness control, exhibiting strong quantum confinement effects, and thus enabling tunable emission across the entire visible wavelength range by controlling the thickness of bromide or iodide-based lead-halide perovskite NPls. In addition, the NPls exhibit narrow emission peaks, have high exciton binding energies, and a higher fraction of radiative recombination compared to their bulk counterparts, making them ideal candidates for applications in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This review discusses the state-of-the-art in colloidal MHP NPls: synthetic routes, thickness-controlled synthesis of both organic-inorganic hybrid and all-inorganic MHP NPls, their linear and nonlinear optical properties (including charge-carrier dynamics), and their performance in LEDs. Furthermore, the challenges associated with their thickness-controlled synthesis, environmental and thermal stability, and their application in making efficient LEDs are discussed.

Topological Control of 2D Perovskite Emission in the Strong Coupling Regime

Momentum space topology can be exploited to manipulate radiation in real space. Here we demonstrate topological control of 2D perovskite emission in the strong coupling regime via polaritonic bound states in the continuum (BICs). Topological polarization singularities (polarization vortices and circularly polarized eigenstates) are observed at room temperature by measuring the Stokes parameters of photoluminescence in momentum space. Particularly, in symmetry-broken structures, a very large degree of circular polarization (DCP) of ∼0.835 is achieved in the perovskite emission, which is the largest in perovskite materials to our knowledge. In the strong coupling regime, lower polariton modes shift to the low-loss spectral region, resulting in strong emission enhancement and large DCP. Our reciprocity analysis reveals that DCP is limited by material absorption at the emission wavelength. Polaritonic BICs based on 2D perovskite materials combine unique topological features with exceptional material properties and may become a promising platform for active nanophotonic devices.

Two-round quasi-whispering gallery mode exciton polaritons with large Rabi splitting in a GaN microrod

We investigate the exciton polaritons and their corresponding optical modes in a hexagonal GaN microrod at room temperature. The dispersion curves are measured by the angle-resolved micro-photoluminescence spectrometer, and two types of exciton polaritons are identified with the help of the finite-difference time-domain simulation. By changing the pump position, the photon part of the exciton polaritons is found to switch between the quasi-whispering gallery modes and the two-round quasi-whispering gallery modes. The exciton polaritons formed by the latter are observed and distinguished for the first time, with a giant Rabi splitting as large as 2Ω = 230.3 meV.

Ultrafast and High-Yield Polaronic Exciton Dissociation in Two-Dimensional Perovskites

Layered two-dimensional (2D) lead halide perovskites are a class of quantum well (QW) materials, holding dramatic potentials for optical and optoelectronic applications. However, the thermally activated exciton dissociation into free carriers in 2D perovskites, a key property that determines their optoelectronic performance, was predicted to be weak due to large exciton binding energy (E_b, about 100-400 meV). Herein, in contrast to the theoretical prediction, we discover an ultrafast (<1.4 ps) and highly efficient (>80%) internal exciton dissociation in (PEA)₂(MA)_n-1Pb_nI_3n+1 (PEA = C₆H₅C₂H₄NH₃⁺, MA = CH₃NH₃⁺, n = 2-4) 2D perovskites despite the large E_b. We demonstrate that the exciton dissociation activity in 2D perovskites is significantly promoted because of the formation of exciton-polarons with considerably reduced exciton binding energy (down to a few tens of millielectronvolts) by the polaronic screening effect. This ultrafast and high-yield exciton dissociation limits the photoluminescence of 2D perovskites but on the other hand well explains their exceptional performance in photovoltaic devices. The finding should represent a common exciton property in the 2D hybrid perovskite family and provide a guideline for their rational applications in light emitting and photovoltaics.

Dielectric Confinement and Exciton Fine Structure in Lead Halide Perovskite Nanoplatelets

Owing to their flexible chemical synthesis and the ability to shape nanostructures, lead halide perovskites have emerged as high potential materials for optoelectronic devices. Here, we investigate the excitonic band edge states and their energies levels in colloidal inorganic lead halide nanoplatelets, particularly the influence of dielectric effects, in a thin quasi-2D system. We use a model including band offset and dielectric confinements in the presence of Coulomb interaction. Short- and long-range contributions, modified by dielectric effects, are also derived, leading to a full modelization of the exciton fine structure, in cubic, tetragonal and orthorhombic phases. The fine splitting structure, including dark and bright excitonic states, is discussed and compared to recent experimental results, showing the importance of both confinement and dielectric contributions.

All-optical switching based on interacting exciton polaritons in self-assembled perovskite microwires

Ultrafast all-optical switches and integrated circuits call for giant optical nonlinearity to minimize energy consumption and footprint. Exciton polaritons underpin intrinsic strong nonlinear interactions and high-speed propagation in solids, thus affording an intriguing platform for all-optical devices. However, semiconductors sustaining stable exciton polaritons at room temperature usually exhibit restricted nonlinearity and/or propagation properties. Delocalized and strongly interacting Wannier-Mott excitons in metal halide perovskites highlight their advantages in integrated nonlinear optical devices. Here, we report all-optical switching by using propagating and strongly interacting exciton-polariton fluids in self-assembled CsPbBr₃ microwires. Strong polariton-polariton interactions and extended polariton fluids with a propagation length of around 25 μm have been reached. All-optical switching on/off of polariton propagation can be realized in picosecond time scale by locally blue-shifting the dispersion with interacting polaritons. The all-optical switching, together with the scalable self-assembly method, highlights promising applications of solution-processed perovskites toward integrated photonics operating in strong coupling regime.

Steering Room-Temperature Plexcitonic Strong Coupling: A Diexcitonic Perspective

Plexcitonic strong coupling between a plasmon-polariton and a quantum emitter empowers ultrafast quantum manipulations in the nanoscale under ambient conditions. The main body of previous studies deals with homogeneous quantum emitters. To enable multiqubit states for future quantum computing and network, the strong coupling involving two excitons of the same material but different resonant energies has been investigated and observed primarily at very low temperature. Here, we report a room-temperature diexcitonic strong coupling (DiSC) nanosystem in which the excitons of a transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer and dye molecules are both strongly coupled to a single Au nanocube. Coherent information exchange in this DiSC nanosystem could be observed even when exciton energy detuning is about five times larger than the respective line widths. The strong coupling behaviors in such a DiSC nanosystem can be manipulated by tuning the plasmon resonant energies and the coupling strengths, opening up a paradigm of controlling plasmon-assisted coherent energy transfer.

Perovskite semiconductors for room-temperature exciton-polaritonics

Lead-halide perovskites are generally excellent light emitters and can have larger exciton binding energies than thermal energy at room temperature, exhibiting great promise for room-temperature exciton-polaritonics. Rapid progress has been made recently, although challenges and mysteries remain in lead-halide perovskite semiconductors to push polaritons to room-temperature operation. In this Perspective, we discuss fundamental aspects of perovskite semiconductors for exciton-polaritons and review the recent rapid experimental advances using lead-halide perovskites for room-temperature polaritonics, including the experimental realization of strong light-matter interaction using various types of microcavities as well as reaching the polariton condensation regime in planar microcavities and lattices.

Exciton-Photonics: From Fundamental Science to Applications

Semiconductors in all dimensionalities ranging from 0D quantum dots and molecules to 3D bulk crystals support bound electron-hole pair quasiparticles termed excitons. Over the past two decades, the emergence of a variety of low-dimensional semiconductors that support excitons combined with advances in nano-optics and photonics has burgeoned an advanced area of research that focuses on engineering, imaging, and modulating the coupling between excitons and photons, resulting in the formation of hybrid quasiparticles termed exciton-polaritons. This advanced area has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in quantum optics, as well as classical optoelectronic devices. Here, we present a review on the coupling of light in excitonic semiconductors and previous investigations of the optical properties of these hybrid quasiparticles via both far-field and near-field imaging and spectroscopy techniques. Special emphasis is given to recent advances with critical evaluation of the bottlenecks that plague various materials toward practical device implementations including quantum light sources. Our review highlights a growing need for excitonic material development together with optical engineering and imaging techniques to harness the utility of excitons and their host materials for a variety of applications.

Self-Hybridized Polaritonic Emission from Layered Perovskites

Light-matter coupling in excitonic materials has been the subject of intense recent investigations due to emergence of new materials. Two-dimensional layered hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites (2D HOIPs) support strongly bound excitons at room temperature with some of the highest oscillator strengths and electric loss tangents among the known excitonic materials. Here, we report strong light-matter coupling in Ruddlesden-Popper phase 2D HOIP crystals without the necessity of an external cavity. We report the concurrent occurrence of multiple orders of hybrid light-matter states via both reflectance and luminescence spectroscopy in thick (>100 nm) crystals and near-unity absorption in thin (<20 nm) crystals. We observe resonances with quality factors of >250 in hybridized exciton-polaritons and identify a linear correlation between exciton-polariton mode splitting and extinction coefficient of the various 2D HOIPs. Our work opens the door to studying polariton dynamics in self-hybridized and open cavity systems with broad applications in optoelectronics and photochemistry.

Ultralow Threshold Polariton Condensate in a Monolayer Semiconductor Microcavity at Room Temperature

Exciton-polaritons, hybrid light-matter bosonic quasiparticles, can condense into a single quantum state, i.e., forming a polariton Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), which represents a crucial step for the development of nanophotonic technology. Recently, atomically thin transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) emerged as promising candidates for novel polaritonic devices. Although the formation of robust valley-polaritons has been realized up to room temperature, the demonstration of polariton lasing remains elusive. Herein, we report for the first time the realization of this important milestone in a TMD microcavity at room temperature. Continuous wave pumped polariton lasing is evidenced by the macroscopic occupation of the ground state, which undergoes a nonlinear increase of the emission along with the emergence of temporal coherence, the presence of an exciton fraction-controlled threshold and the buildup of linear polarization. Our work presents a critically important step toward exploiting nonlinear polariton-polariton interactions, as well as offering a new platform for thresholdless lasing.

Nonlinear Parametric Scattering of Exciton Polaritons in Perovskite Microcavities

Comparing with pure photons, higher nonlinearity in polariton systems has been exploited in various proof-of-principle demonstrations of efficient optical devices based on the parametric scattering effect. However, most of them demand cryogenic temperatures limited by the small exciton binding energy of traditional semiconductors or exhibit weak nonlinearity resulting from Frenkel excitons. Lead halide perovskites, possessing both a large binding energy and a strong polariton interaction, emerge as ideal platforms to explore nonlinear polariton physics toward room temperature operation. Here, we report the first observation of nonlinear parametric scattering in a lead halide perovskite microcavity with multiple polariton branches at room temperature. Driven by the scattering source from condensation in one polariton branch, correlated polariton pairs are obtained at high k states in an adjacent branch. Our results strongly advocate the ability to reach the nonlinear regime essential for perovskite polaritonics working at room temperature.

Pressure-Induced Emission toward Harvesting Cold White Light from Warm White Light

The pressure-induced emission (PIE) behavior of halide perovskites has attracted widespread attention and has potential application in pressure sensing. However, high-pressure reversibility largely inhibits practical applications. Here, we describe the emission enhancement and non-doping control of the color temperature in two-dimensional perovskite (C₆ H₅ CH₂ CH₂ NH₃ )₂ PbCl₄ ((PEA)₂ PbCl₄ ) nanocrystals (NCs) through high-pressure processing. A remarkable 5 times PIE was achieved at a mild pressure of 0.4 GPa, which was highly associated with the enhanced radiative recombination of self-trapped excitons. Of particular importance is the retention of the 1.6 times emission of dense (PEA)₂ PbCl₄ NCs upon the complete release of pressure, accompanied by a color change from "warm" (4403 K) to "cold" white light with 14295 K. The irreversible pressure-induced structural amorphization, which facilitates the remaining local distortion of inorganic Pb-Cl octahedra with respect to the steric hindrance of organic PEA⁺ cations, should be greatly responsible for the quenched high-efficiency photoluminescence.

Spontaneously coherent orbital coupling of counterrotating exciton polaritons in annular perovskite microcavities

Exciton-polariton condensation is regarded as a spontaneous macroscopic quantum phenomenon with phase ordering and collective coherence. By engineering artificial annular potential landscapes in halide perovskite semiconductor microcavities, we experimentally and theoretically demonstrate the room-temperature spontaneous formation of a coherent superposition of exciton-polariton orbital states with symmetric petal-shaped patterns in real space, resulting from symmetry breaking due to the anisotropic effective potential of the birefringent perovskite crystals. The lobe numbers of such petal-shaped polariton condensates can be precisely controlled by tuning the annular potential geometry. These petal-shaped condensates form in multiple orbital states, carrying locked alternating π phase shifts and vortex-antivortex superposition cores, arising from the coupling of counterrotating exciton-polaritons in the confined circular waveguide. Our geometrically patterned microcavity exhibits promise for realizing room-temperature topological polaritonic devices and optical polaritonic switches based on periodic annular potentials.

Photophysics of 2D Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Lead Halide Perovskites: Progress, Debates, and Challenges

2D organic-inorganic hybrid Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites (RPPs) have recently attracted increasing attention due to their excellent environmental stability, high degree of electronic tunability, and natural multiquantum-well structures. Although there is a rapid development of photoelectronic applications in solar cells, photodetectors, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and lasers based on 2D RPPs, the state-of-the-art performance is far inferior to that of the existing devices because of the limited understanding on fundamental physics, especially special photophysics in carrier dynamics, excitonic fine structures, excitonic quasiparticles, and spin-related effect. Thus, there is still plenty of room to improve the performances of photoelectronic devices based on 2D RPPs by enhancing knowledge on fundamental photophysics. This review highlights the special photophysics of 2D RPPs that is fundamentally different from the conventional 3D congeners. It also provides the most recent progress, debates, challenges, prospects, and in-depth understanding of photophysics in 2D perovskites, which is significant for not only boosting performance of solar cells, LEDs, photodetectors, but also future development of applications in lasers, spintronics, quantum information, and integrated photonic chips.

High-Quality All-Inorganic Perovskite CsPbBr3 Microsheet Crystals as Low-Loss Subwavelength Exciton-Polariton Waveguides

Nanostructured all-inorganic metal halide perovskites have attracted considerable attention due to their outstanding photonic and optoelectronic properties. Particularly, they can exhibit room-temperature exciton-polaritons (EPs) capable of confining electromagnetic fields down to the subwavelength scale, enabling efficient light harvesting and guiding. However, a real-space nanoimaging study of the EPs in perovskite crystals is still absent. Additionally, few studies focused on the ambient-pressure and reliable fabrication of large-area CsPbBr₃ microsheets. Here, CsPbBr₃ orthorhombic microsheet single crystals were successfully synthesized under ambient pressure. Their EPs were examined using a real-space nanoimaging technique, which reveal EP waveguide modes spanning the visible to near-infrared spectral region. The EPs exhibit a sufficient long propagation length of over 16 μm and a very low propagation loss of less than 0.072 dB·μm^-1. These results demonstrate the potential applications of CsPbBr₃ microsheets as subwavelength waveguides in integrated optics.

Improved Photostability in Fluorinated 2D Perovskite Single Crystals

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites are very promising semiconductors for many optoelectronic applications, although their extensive use is limited by their poor stability under environmental conditions. In this work, we synthesize two-dimensional perovskite single crystals and investigate their optical and structural evolution under continuous light irradiation. We found that the hydrophobic nature of the fluorinated component, together with the absence of grain boundary defects, lead to improved material stability thanks to the creation of a robust barrier that preserve the crystalline structure, hindering photo-degradation processes usually promoted by oxygen and moisture.

Deterministic fabrication of arbitrary vertical heterostructures of two-dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper halide perovskites

Ruddlesden-Popper lead halide perovskites have emerged as a new class of two-dimensional semiconductors with tunable optoelectronic properties, potentially offering unlimited heterostructure configurations for exploration. However, the practical realization of such heterostructures is challenging because of the difficulty in achieving controllable direct synthesis or van der Waals integration of halide perovskites due to their mobile and fragile crystal lattices. Here we report direct growth of large-area nanosheets of diverse phase-pure Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites with thicknesses down to one monolayer at the solution-air interface and a reliable approach for gently transferring and stacking these nanosheets. These advances enable the deterministic fabrication of arbitrary vertical heterostructures and multi-heterostructures of Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites with greater structural degrees of freedom that define the electronic structures of the heterojunctions. Such rationally designed heterostructures exhibit interesting interlayer properties, such as interlayer carrier transfer and reduction of the photoluminescence linewidth, and could enable the exploration of exciton physics and optoelectronic applications.

Self-trapped excitons in two-dimensional perovskites

With strong electron-phonon coupling, the self-trapped excitons are usually formed in materials, which leads to the local lattice distortion and localized excitons. The self-trapping strongly depends on the dimensionality of the materials. In the three-dimensional case, there is a potential barrier for self-trapping, whereas no such barrier is present for quasi-one-dimensional systems. Two-dimensional (2D) systems are marginal cases with a much lower potential barrier or nonexistent potential barrier for the self-trapping, leading to the easier formation of self-trapped states. Self-trapped excitons emission exhibits a broadband emission with a large Stokes shift below the bandgap. 2D perovskites are a class of layered structure material with unique optical properties and would find potential promising optoelectronic. In particular, self-trapped excitons are present in 2D perovskites and can significantly influence the optical and electrical properties of 2D perovskites due to the soft characteristic and strong electron-phonon interaction. Here, we summarized the luminescence characteristics, origins, and characterizations of self-trapped excitons in 2D perovskites and finally gave an introduction to their applications in optoelectronics.

Engineering the Phases and Heterostructures of Ultrathin Hybrid Perovskite Nanosheets

Low-dimensional perovskites have gained increasing attention recently, and engineering their material phases, structural patterning and interfacial properties is crucial for future perovskite-based applications. Here a phase and heterostructure engineering on ultrathin perovskites, through the reversible cation exchange of hybrid perovskites and efficient surface functionalization of low-dimensional materials, is demonstrated. Using PbI₂ as precursor and template, perovskite nanosheets of varying thickness and hexagonal shape on diverse substrates is obtained. Multiple phases, such as PbI₂ , MAPbI₃ and FAPbI₃ , can be flexibly designed and transformed as a single nanosheet. A perovskite nanosheet can be patterned using masks made of 2D materials, fabricating lateral heterostructures of perovskite and PbI₂ . Perovskite-based vertical heterostructures show strong interfacial coupling with 2D materials. As a demonstration, monolayer MoS₂ /MAPbI₃ stacks give a type-II heterojunction. The ability to combine the optically efficient perovskites with versatile 2D materials creates possibilities for new designs and functionalities.

Metasurface Integrated Monolayer Exciton Polariton

Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are the first truly two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, providing an excellent platform to investigate light-matter interaction in the 2D limit. The inherently strong excitonic response in monolayer TMDs can be further enhanced by exploiting the temporal confinement of light in nanophotonic structures. Here, we demonstrate a 2D exciton-polariton system by strongly coupling atomically thin tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) monolayer to a silicon nitride (SiN) metasurface. Via energy-momentum spectroscopy of the WSe₂-metasurface system, we observed the characteristic anticrossing of the polariton dispersion both in the reflection and photoluminescence spectrum. A Rabi splitting of 18 meV was observed which matched well with our numerical simulation. Moreover, we showed that the Rabi splitting, the polariton dispersion, and the far-field emission pattern could be tailored with subwavelength-scale engineering of the optical meta-atoms. Our platform thus opens the door for the future development of novel, exotic exciton-polariton devices by advanced meta-optical engineering.