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Efficient near-infrared light-emitting diodes based on quantum dots in layered perovskite

Nature Photonics volume 14, pages 227–233 (2020)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 15 April 2020

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Abstract

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on excitonic material systems, in which tightly bound photoexcited electron–hole pairs migrate together rather than as individual charge carriers, offer an attractive route to developing solution-processed, high-performance light emitters. Here, we demonstrate bright, efficient, excitonic infrared LEDs through the incorporation of quantum dots (QDs)1 into a low-dimensional perovskite matrix. We program the surface of the QDs to trigger fast perovskite nucleation to achieve homogeneous incorporation of QDs into the matrix without detrimental QD aggregation, as verified by in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray spectroscopy. We tailor the distribution of the perovskites to drive balanced ultrafast excitonic energy transfer to the QDs. The resulting LEDs operate in the short-wavelength infrared region, an important regime for imaging and sensing applications, and exhibit a high external quantum efficiency of 8.1% at 980 nm at a radiance of up to 7.4 W Sr−1 m−2.

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Fig. 1: QDLP solids and their energy and material properties.
Fig. 2: Formation kinetics of QDLP solid films.
Fig. 3: Energy transfer and PL properties of QDLP hybrid solid films.
Fig. 4: LED device performance of QDLP solids.
Fig. 5: Operando stability of LEDs based on QD-in-different-perovskite films.

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Data availability

Source data for Figs. 2–5 are provided with the paper. All other data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This publication is based in part on work supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, by the Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence Program, by Toyota Motors Europe and by award OSR-2017-CPF-3321-03 made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). We thank R. Munir for the GIWAXS/GISAXS measurements performed at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), supported by NSF award DMR-1332208. We thank D. Kopilovic, E. Palmiano, L. Levina and R. Wolowiec for technical support.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Liang Gao, Li Na Quan, F. Pelayo García de Arquer.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Liang Gao, Li Na Quan, F. Pelayo García de Arquer, Andrew Proppe, Rafael Quintero-Bermudez, Chengqin Zou, Zhenyu Yang, Makhsud I. Saidaminov, Oleksandr Voznyy & Edward H. Sargent

  2. Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Liang Gao & Jiang Tang

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Yongbiao Zhao & Zhenghong Lu

  4. KAUST Solar Center (KSC), and Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

    Rahim Munir

  5. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin, Germany

    Rahim Munir

  6. Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Andrew Proppe & Shana O. Kelley

  7. Advanced Technology Materials & Research, Research & Development, Toyota Motor Europe, Toyota Technical Centre, Zaventem, Belgium

    Sachin Kinge

  8. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Shana O. Kelley

  9. Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Aram Amassian

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Contributions

F.P.G.A. and E.H.S. designed and directed the study. L.G. and L.N.Q. led all the experimental work. Y.Z. contributed to LED device fabrication. R.M., R.Q.-B. and A.A. carried out the GIWAXS/GISAXS measurements and analysis. A.P. and L.G. carried out TA measurements. C.Z. assisted with SEM measurements. Z.Y., O.V. and J.T. helped with the design of all experimental work. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jiang Tang or Edward H. Sargent.

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Competing interests

L.G., L.N.Q., F.P.G.A., Z.Y., S.K. and E.H.S. have filed an international patent application PCT/EP2018/076830 based on the results of this manuscript.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–8, section 9, Figs. 10–17, calculation 18, Figs. 19–23, Table 24, Figs. 25, 26.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 2

Unprocessed ex situ and in situ GIWAXS, GISAXS data.

Source Data Fig. 3

Unprocessed steady-state and transient PL, PLQY and transfer efficiency data.

Source Data Fig. 4

Unprocessed EL spectra, EQE–current density, radiance–voltage data.

Source Data Fig. 5

Unprocessed EL stability data.

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Gao, L., Quan, L.N., García de Arquer, F.P. et al. Efficient near-infrared light-emitting diodes based on quantum dots in layered perovskite. Nat. Photonics 14, 227–233 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0577-1

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