Simultaneously achieving both broad absorption and sharp emission in the near-infrared (NIR) is challenging. Coupling of an efficient absorber such as lead halide perovskites to lanthanide emissive species is a promising way to meet the demands for visible-to-NIR spectral conversion. However, lead-based perovskite sensitizers suffer from relatively narrow absorption in the visible range, poor stability, and toxicity. Herein, we introduce a downshifting configuration based on lead-free cesium manganese bromide nanocrystals acting as broad visible absorbers coupled to sharp emission in the NIR-I and NIR-II spectral regions. To achieve this, we synthesized CsMnBr 3 and Cs 3 MnBr 5 nanocrystals and attempted to dope them with a series of lanthanides, achieving success only with CsMnBr 3 . The correlation of the lanthanide emission to the CsMnBr 3 visible absorption was confirmed with steady-state excitation spectra and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements, whereas the mechanism of downconversion from the CsMnBr 3 matrix to the lanthanides was understood by density functional theory calculations. This study shows that lead-free metal halides with an appropriate phase are effective sensitizers for lanthanides and offer a route to efficient downshifting applications.

Layered double perovskite are currently investigated as emerging halide-based materials for optoelectronic applications. Herein, we present the synthesis of Cs4MnxCd1-xSb2Cl12 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanocrystals (NCs). X-ray powder diffraction...

Layered double perovskite are currently investigated as emerging halide-based materials for optoelectronic applications. Herein, we present the synthesis of Cs4MnxCd1-xSb2Cl12 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanocrystals (NCs). X-ray powder diffraction evidences the retaining of the same crystal structure for all the inspected composition; transmission electron microscopy revealed monodisperse particles with a mean size of 10.6 nm. The absorption spectra seem to be mostly determined by transitions related to Sb3+, whereas Mn2+ induced a red emission in the 625 – 650 nm range. The emission intensity and position varies with the Mn2+ content and reaches the maximum for the composition with x = 0.12. Finally, we demonstrated that the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of the latter NCs was boosted from 0.3% to 3.9% through a post-synthesis treatment. The present work enlarges the knowledge of colloidal layered double perovskite nanocrystals, stimulating future investigations of this emerging class of material.

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