Nano-emitting Heterostructures Violate Optical Reciprocity and Enable Efficient Photoluminescence in Halide-Segregated Methylammonium-Free Wide Bandgap Perovskites

This work investigates halide segregation in methylammonium-free wide bandgap perovskites by photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and advanced electron microscopy techniques. Our study reveals how the formation of nano-emitting low-energy domains embedded in a wide bandgap matrix, located at surfaces and grain boundaries, enables a PLQY up to 25%. Intensity-dependent PLQY measurement and PL excitation spectroscopy revealed efficient charge funnelling and the failure of optical reciprocity between absorption and emission, limiting the use of PLQY data to determine the quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS) in these layers. Concomitantly, the small spectral overlap between emission and absorption reduces photon re-absorption. We demonstrate that phase segregation and charge funnelling, although harmful for the radiative efficiency of the mixed phase, are essential for achieving high PLQYs, selectively at low energies, otherwise not achievable in non-segregated perovskites with a similar bandgap. This promotes the applicability of this phenomenon in thermally stable high-efficiency emitting devices and color-conversion heterostructures.