Crosslinkable Ligands for High-Density Photo-Patterning of Perovskite Nanocrystals

Perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are promising luminescent materials for electronic color displays due to their high luminescence efficiency, widely-tunable emission wavelengths, and narrow emission linewidth. Their application in emerging display technologies necessitates precise micron-scale patterning while maintaining good optical performance. Although photolithography is a well-established micro-patterning technique in the industry, conventional processes are incompatible with PNCs as the use of polar solvents can damage the ionic PNCs, causing severe luminescence quenching. Here, we report the rational design and synthesis of a new bidentate photo-crosslinkable ligand for the direct photo-patterning of PNCs. Each ligand contains two photosensitive acrylate groups and two carboxylate groups, and is introduced to the PNCs via an entropy-driven ligand exchange process. In a close-packed thin film, the acrylate ligands photo-polymerize and crosslink under ultraviolet light, rendering the PNCs insoluble in developing solvents. A high-density crosslinked PNC film with an optical density of 1.1 is attained at 1.4 µm thickness, surpassing industry requirements on the absorption coefficient. Micron-scale patterning is further demonstrated using direct laser writing, producing well-defined 20 µm features. This study thus offers an effective and versatile approach for micro-patterning PNCs, and may also be broadly applicable to other nanomaterial systems.