Room-temperature superfluorescence in hybrid perovskites and its origins

The formation of coherent macroscopic states and the manipulation of their entanglement using external stimuli are essential for emerging quantum applications. However, the observation of collective quantum phenomena such as Bose–Einstein condensation, superconductivity, superfluidity and superradiance has been limited to extremely low temperatures to suppress dephasing due to random thermal agitations. Here we report room-temperature superfluorescence in hybrid perovskite thin films. This surprising discovery shows that in this material platform, there exists an extremely strong immunity to electronic dephasing due to thermal processes. To explain this observation, we propose that the formation of large polarons in hybrid perovskites provides a quantum analogue of vibration isolation to electronic excitation and protects it against dephasing even at room temperature. Understanding the origins of sustained quantum coherence and the superfluorescence phase transition at high temperatures can provide guidance to design systems for emerging quantum information technologies and to realize similar high-temperature macroscopic quantum phenomena in tailored materials. Superfluorescence—the collective emission of fluorescent light—is observed at temperatures up to 330 K in lead halide perovskite thin films. This finding suggests an intrinsic mechanism for protecting the electronic coherence in these materials.