We synthesize colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) of Rb 3 InCl 6 , composed of isolated metal halide octahedra (“0D”), and of Cs 2 NaInCl 6 and Cs 2 KInCl 6 double perovskites, where all octahedra share corners and are interconnected (“3D”), with the aim to elucidate and compare their optical features once doped with Sb 3+ ions. Our optical and computational analyses evidence that the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of all these systems is consistently lower than that of the corresponding bulk materials due to the presence of deep surface traps from under-coordinated halide ions. Also, Sb-doped “0D” Rb 3 InCl 6 NCs exhibit a higher PLQY than Sb-doped “3D” Cs 2 NaInCl 6 and Cs 2 KInCl 6 NCs, most likely because excitons responsible for the PL emission migrate to the surface faster in 3D NCs than in 0D NCs. We also observe that all these systems feature a large Stokes shift (varying from system to system), a feature that should be of interest for applications in photon management and scintillation technologies. Scintillation properties are evaluated via radioluminescence experiments, and re-absorption-free waveguiding performance in large-area plastic scintillators is assessed using Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations.

We devised a hot-injection synthesis to prepare colloidal double-perovskite Cs 2 NaBiCl 6 nanocrystals (NCs). We also examined the effects of replacing Na + with Ag + cations by preparing and characterizing Cs 2 Na 1– x Ag x BiCl 6 alloy NCs with x ranging from 0 to 1. Whereas Cs 2 NaBiCl 6 NCs were not emissive, Cs 2 Na 1– x Ag x BiCl 6 NCs featured a broad photoluminescence band at ∼690 nm, Stokes-shifted from the respective absorption by ≥1.5 eV. The emission efficiency was maximized for low Ag + amounts, reaching ∼3% for the Cs 2 Na 0.95 Ag 0.05 BiCl 6 composition. Density functional theory calculations coupled with spectroscopic investigations revealed that Cs 2 Na 1– x Ag x BiCl 6 NCs are characterized by a complex photophysics stemming from the interplay of (i) radiative recombination via trapped excitons localized in spatially connected AgCl 6 –BiCl 6 octahedra; (ii) surface traps, located on undercoordinated surface Bi centers, behaving as phonon-assisted nonradiative decay channels; and (iii) a thermal equilibrium between trapping and detrapping processes. These results offer insights into developing double-perovskite NCs with enhanced optoelectronic efficiency.

We report here the synthesis of undoped and Cu-doped Cs2ZnCl4 nanocrystals (NCs), in which we could tune the concentration of Cu from 0.7% to 7.5%. According to electron paramagnetic resonance analysis, in 0.7% and 2.1% Cu-doped NCs the Cu ions were present in the +1 oxidation state only, while in NCs at higher Cu concentrations we could detect Cu(II) ions. The undoped Cs2ZnCl4 NCs were non emissive, while the Cu-doped samples had a bright intra-gap photoluminescence (PL) at 2.6eV mediated by band-edge absorption. The PL quantum yield was maximum (~55%) for the samples with low Cu concentration (≤ 2.1%) and it systematically decreased when further increasing the concentration of Cu, reaching 15% for the NCs with the highest doping level (7.5%). Density functional theory calculations indicated that the PL emission could be ascribed only to Cu(I) ions: these ions introduce intra-gap states that promote the formation of selftrapped excitons, through which an efficient emission takes place.