Bright Triplet Self-Trapped Excitons to Dopant Energy Transfer in Halide Double-Perovskite Nanocrystals

For inorganic semiconductor nanostructure, excitons in the triplet states are known as the "dark exciton" with poor emitting properties, because of the spin-forbidden transition. Herein, we report a design principle to boost triplet excitons photoluminescence (PL) in all-inorganic lead-free double-perovskite nanocrystals (NCs). Our experimental data reveal that singlet self-trapped excitons (STEs) experience fast intersystem crossing (80 ps) to triplet states. These triplet STEs give bright green color emission with unity PL quantum yield (PLQY). Furthermore, efficient energy transfer from triplet STEs to dopants (Mn2+) can be achieved, which leads to white-light emitting with 87% PLQY in both colloidal and solid thin film NCs. These findings illustrate a fundamental principle to design efficient white-light emitting inorganic phosphors, propelling the development of illumination-related applications.