Intense and Stable Blue Light Emission from CsPbBr$_3$/Cs$_4$PbBr$_6$ Heterostructures Embedded in Transparent Nanoporous Films

Abstract

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals are attractive for light emitting devices both as electroluminescent and color converting materials, since they combine intense and narrow emissions with good charge injection and transport properties. However, most perovskite nanocrystals shine at green and red wavelengths, the observation of intense and stable blue emission still being a challenging target. In this work, we report a method to attain intense and enduring blue emission (470-480 nm), with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 40%, originated from very small CsPbBr$_3$ nanocrystals (diameter<3nm) formed by controllably exposing Cs$_4$PbBr$_6$ to humidity. This process is mediated by the void network of a mesoporous transparent scaffold in which the zero-dimensional (0D) Cs$_4$PbBr$_6$ lattice is embedded, which allows the fine control over water adsorption and condensation that determines the optimization of the synthetic procedure and, eventually, the nanocrystal size. By temperature dependent photoemission analysis of samples with different [CsPbBr$_3$]/[Cs$_4$PbBr$_6$] volume ratios, we show that the bright blue emission observed results from the efficient charge transfer to the CsPbBr$_3$ inclusions from the Cs$_4$PbBr$_6$ host. Our approach provides a means to attain highly efficient transparent blue light emitting films that complete the palette offered by perovskite nanocrystals for lighting and display applications.