Solid-state light-emitting devices based on direct-bandgap semiconductors have, over the past two decades, been utilized as energy-efficient sources of lighting. However, fabrication of these devices typically relies on expensive high-temperature and high-vacuum processes, rendering them uneconomical for use in large-area displays. Here, we report high-brightness light-emitting diodes based on solution-processed organometal halide perovskites. We demonstrate electroluminescence in the near-infrared, green and red by tuning the halide compositions in the perovskite. In our infrared device, a thin 15 nm layer of CH3NH3PbI(3-x)Cl(x) perovskite emitter is sandwiched between larger-bandgap titanium dioxide (TiO2) and poly(9,9'-dioctylfluorene) (F8) layers, effectively confining electrons and holes in the perovskite layer for radiative recombination. We report an infrared radiance of 13.2 W sr(-1) m(-2) at a current density of 363 mA cm(-2), with highest external and internal quantum efficiencies of 0.76% and 3.4%, respectively. In our green light-emitting device with an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/CH3NH3PbBr3/F8/Ca/Ag structure, we achieved a luminance of 364 cd m(-2) at a current density of 123 mA cm(-2), giving external and internal quantum efficiencies of 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. We show, using photoluminescence studies, that radiative bimolecular recombination is dominant at higher excitation densities. Hence, the quantum efficiencies of the perovskite light-emitting diodes increase at higher current densities. This demonstration of effective perovskite electroluminescence offers scope for developing this unique class of materials into efficient and colour-tunable light emitters for low-cost display, lighting and optical communication applications.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are emerging low-cost emitters with very high color purity, but their low luminescent efficiency is a critical drawback. We boosted the current efficiency (CE) of perovskite light-emitting diodes with a simple bilayer structure to 42.9 candela per ampere, similar to the CE of phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes, with two modifications: We prevented the formation of metallic lead (Pb) atoms that cause strong exciton quenching through a small increase in methylammonium bromide (MABr) molar proportion, and we spatially confined the exciton in uniform MAPbBr3 nanograins (average diameter = 99.7 nanometers) formed by a nanocrystal pinning process and concomitant reduction of exciton diffusion length to 67 nanometers. These changes caused substantial increases in steady-state photoluminescence intensity and efficiency of MAPbBr3 nanograin layers.

Perovskite solar cells based on abundant low cost materials promise to compete on performance with mainstream PV. Here we demonstrate lead-free perovskite solar cells, removing a potential barrier to widespread deployment.

Conjugated polymers enable the production of flexible semiconductor devices that can be processed from solution at low temperatures. Over the past 25 years, device performance has improved greatly as a wide variety of molecular structures have been studied. However, one major limitation has not been overcome; transport properties in polymer films are still limited by pervasive conformational and energetic disorder. This not only limits the rational design of materials with higher performance, but also prevents the study of physical phenomena associated with an extended π-electron delocalization along the polymer backbone. Here we report a comparative transport study of several high-mobility conjugated polymers by field-effect-modulated Seebeck, transistor and sub-bandgap optical absorption measurements. We show that in several of these polymers, most notably in a recently reported, indacenodithiophene-based donor-acceptor copolymer with a near-amorphous microstructure, the charge transport properties approach intrinsic disorder-free limits at which all molecular sites are thermally accessible. Molecular dynamics simulations identify the origin of this long sought-after regime as a planar, torsion-free backbone conformation that is surprisingly resilient to side-chain disorder. Our results provide molecular-design guidelines for 'disorder-free' conjugated polymers.

The highest power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) reported for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with inverted planar structures are still inferior to those of PSCs with regular structures, mainly because of lower open-circuit voltages (). Here we report a strategy to reduce nonradiative recombination for the inverted devices, based on a simple solution-processed secondary growth technique. This approach produces a wider bandgap top layer and a more n-type perovskite film, which mitigates nonradiative recombination, leading to an increase in by up to 100 millivolts. We achieved a high of 1.21 volts without sacrificing photocurrent, corresponding to a voltage deficit of 0.41 volts at a bandgap of 1.62 electron volts. This improvement led to a stabilized power output approaching 21% at the maximum power point.