The unusual temperature dependence of exciton emission decay in CsPbX3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) attracts considerable attention. Upon cooling, extremely short (sub-ns) lifetimes were observed and were explained by an inverted bright–dark state splitting. Here, we report temperature-dependent exciton lifetimes for CsPbCl3 NCs doped with 0–41% Mn2+. The exciton emission lifetime increases upon cooling from 300 to 75 K. Upon further cooling, a strong and fast sub-ns decay component develops. However, the decay is strongly biexponential and also a weak, slow decay component is observed with a ∼40–50 ns lifetime below 20 K. The slow component has a ∼5–10 times stronger relative intensity in Mn-doped NCs compared to that in undoped CsPbCl3 NCs. The temperature dependence of the slow component resembles that of CdSe and PbSe quantum dots with an activation energy of ∼19 meV for the dark–bright state splitting. Based on our observations, we propose an alternative explanation for the short, sub-ns exciton decay time in CsPbX3 NCs. Slow bright–dark state relaxation at cryogenic temperatures gives rise to almost exclusively bright state emission. Incorporation of Mn2+ or high magnetic fields enhances the bright–dark state relaxation and allows for the observation of the long-lived dark state emission at cryogenic temperatures.

The variation in the shape of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) remains intriguing. This interest goes beyond crystallography as the shape of the NC determines its energy levels and optoelectronic properties. While thermodynamic arguments point to a few or just a single shape(s), terminated by the most stable crystal facets, a remarkable variation in NC shape has been reported for many different compounds. For instance, for the well-studied case of CdSe, close-to-spherical quantum dots, rods, two-dimensional nanoplatelets, and quantum rings have been reported. Here, we report how two-dimensional CdSe nanoplatelets reshape into quantum rings. We monitor the reshaping in real time by combining atomically resolved structural characterization with optical absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy. We observe that CdSe units leave the vertical sides of the edges and recrystallize on the top and bottom edges of the nanoplatelets, resulting in a thickening of the rims. The formation of a central hole, rendering the shape into a ring, only occurs at a more elevated temperature.

The crystal structure of 5-fluorosalicylic acid is known from the literature [Choudhury & Guru Row (2004). Acta Cryst. E60, o1595-o1597] as crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system with space-group setting P2/n and with one molecule in the asymmetric unit (polymorph I). We describe here a new polymorph which is again monoclinic but with different unit-cell parameters (polymorph II). Polymorph II has two molecules in the asymmetric unit. Its structure was modelled as a twin, with a pseudo-orthorhombic C-centred twin cell.