Deciphering modes of long-range energy transfer in perovskite crystals using confocal excitation and wide-field fluorescence spectral imaging

Excitation energy migration beyond mesoscale is of contemporary interest for both solar photovoltaic and light-emissive devices, especially in context of organometal halide perovskites (OMHPs) which have been shown to have very long (charge carrier) diffusion lengths. While understanding the energy propagation pathways in OMHPs is crucial for further advancement of material design and improvement of opto-electronic features, the simultaneous existence of multiple processes like carrier diffusion, photon recycling, and photon transport makes it often complex to differentiate them. In this study, we unravel the diverse yet dominant excitation energy transfer mode(s) in crystalline MAPbBr 3 micron-sized 1D rods and plates by localized (confocal) laser excitation coupled with spectrally-resolved wide-field fluorescence imaging. While rarely used, this technique can efficiently probe excitation migration beyond the diffraction limit and can be realized by simple modification of existing epifluorescence microscopy setups. We find that in rods of length below ∼2 microns, carrier diffusion dominates amongst various energy transfer processes. However, the transient non-radiative defects severely inhibit the extent of carrier migration and also temporarily affect the radiative recombination dynamics of the photo-carriers. For MAPbBr 3 plates of several tens of micrometers, we find that the photoluminescence (PL) spectral characteristics remain unaltered at short distances (< ∼3 μ m) while at a larger distance, the spectral profile is gradually red-shifted. This implies that carrier diffusion dominates over small distances, while photon recycling, i.e. , repeated re-absorption and re-emission of photons, propagates excitation energy transfer over extended length scales with assistance from wave-guided photon transport. Our findings can potentially be used for future studies on the characterization of energy transport mechanisms in semiconductor solids as well as for organic (molecular) self-assembled microstructures.