Rare-Earth-Element-Ytterbium-Substituted Lead-Free Inorganic Perovskite Nanocrystals for Optoelectronic Applications

Lead-(Pb-) halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are interesting nanomaterials due to their excellent optical properties, such as narrow-band emission, high photoluminescence (PL) efficiency, and wide color gamut. However, these NCs have several critical problems, such as the high toxicity of Pb, its tendency to accumulate in the human body, and phase instability. Although Pb-free metal (Bi, Sn, etc.) halide perovskite NCs have recently been reported as possible alternatives, they exhibit poor optical and electrical properties as well as abundant intrinsic defect sites. For the first time, the synthesis and optical characterization of cesium ytterbium triiodide (CsYbI₃) cubic perovskite NCs with highly uniform size distribution and high crystallinity using a simple hot-injection method are reported. Strong excitation-independent emission and high quantum yields for the prepared NCs are verified using photoluminescence measurements. Furthermore, these CsYbI₃ NCs exhibit potential for use in organic–inorganic hybrid photodetectors as a photoactive layer. The as-prepared samples exhibit clear on–off switching behavior as well as high photoresponsivity (2.4 × 10³ A W⁻¹) and external quantum efficiency (EQE, 5.8 × 10⁵%) due to effective exciton dissociation and charge transport. These results suggest that CsYbI₃ NCs offer tremendous opportunities in electronic and optoelectronic applications, such as chemical sensors, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and energy conversion and storage devices.