Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ConPLED (Nanostructured Confined ABX3 Perovskite based Light-Emitting Devices)
Período documentado: 2019-04-01 hasta 2021-03-31
In order to achieve these aims, a series of milestones, which are final goals per se, have been pursued:
Objective 1. Develop efficient luminescent nanomaterials. We have developed new synthesis routes to fabricate spatially confined ABX3 perovskite with emission spectra covering the entire visible region and compatible with thin-film processing aiming to integrate into LEDs that incorporate nanophotonic structures.
Objective 2. Design and develop nanostructured optical materials that shape the emission of halide perovskite films with unprecedented precision in order to attain full control over its colour quality and angular distribution. An optical modelling software package powered by a genetic algorithm has been developed. A hybrid photonic/plasmonic design has been identified as the one with the most promising array of attributes. We have fabricated and combined it with green-emitting perovskites to show the first example of perovskite emission shaped by this type of resonances.
Objective 3. Design and fabricate perovskite LEDs governed by quantum regime effects that give rise to an extensive palette of colours. Confinement effects have resulted in LEDs of improved performance with respect to the state-of-the-art when the project started: EQE~20% for green and EQE~1% for blue. A new perovskite based white light LED architecture has been attained.
The fellow has also published two review papers on the emission properties of perovskites under illumination (crucial for LEDs) and on the progress in the perovskite based LED field (Adv. Ener. Materials, 2020; and Adv. Opt. Mater, 2021, respectively) and a comment on best practices to characterise emerging LEDs performance (Nature Photonics 2019). Access to knowledge by all has been guaranteed, divulgating results in open access through the repository of the University of Cambridge.
Results have been also publicised in diverse research forums, allowing the fellow to network with other peers in the field and in the industry. The fellow has presented the results at the MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, 2019, and in specific congresses dealing with perovskite devices such as NIPHO (Seville, 2020). In addition, the fellow has given invited talks at the Meeting of the Spanish Royal Society of Physics (Zaragoza, 2019), NanoMatMol (online 2020) and the LightEm Conference (online 2020), among others. In addition, the fellow has organised different conference symposia (“Strain in Nanomaterials” at the European Physical Society Conference, 2020; and the Meeting of the Association of Spanish Researchers in the UK, Liverpool 2019, among others), including one focused on light-mater interactions in perovskites (NanoGe, October 2021) and is guest-editing a special issue in the Journal of Applied Physics on Emerging Materials and Devices for Efficient Light Generation.
The MSCA Fellowship has represented key support that allowed the fellow to create a strong network and grow as a scholar. He heads the Light Emission Group in the Stranks Laboratory, and, after finalising the Fellowship, he is managing a European project to translate lab-scale devices into a commercial product (€150k). He is also managing two national grants (~£350,000) to install state-of-the-art equipment for the characterisation of emerging emitters.
Communicating science is crucial to engage new generations with research and explain to society how researchers make great use of everyone’s economic efforts to learn about our world and make it a better and more sustainable place to progress. In this regard, during this MSCA, the fellow has participated in 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions of the Physics at Work and Cambridge Science Festival, where talks and experiments were prepared to stimulate interest
To date, little work has been carried out related to the combination of perovskites and photonics, and thus there is a unique opportunity for knowledge generation within the EU. The strong momentum of these fields has facilitated the development of novel strategies and materials during this project, which are bridging these two highly innovative fields, creating a new interdisciplinary area.
Breakthroughs on low cost, scalable perovskite emitters deliver impact in a variety of other areas, including lasers, detectors and optical communication devices. The systems produced within this project are generating interest in flexible electronics, allowing the EU to be a leader in the implementation of the internet of things and wearables, both currently in the spotlight.