Templated-assembly of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals into 2D photonic supercrystals with amplified spontaneous emission.

Perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have revolutionized optoelectronic devices because of their versatile optical properties. However, controlling and extending these functionalities often requires a light management strategy involving additional processing steps. Here, we introduce a simple approach to shape perovskite nanocrystals (NC) into photonic architectures that provide light management by directly shaping the active material. Pre-patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) templates are used for the template-induced self-assembly of 10 nm CsPbBr 3 perovskite NC colloids into large area (1 cm 2 ) 2D photonic crystals with tunable lattice spacing, ranging from 400 nm up to several microns. The photonic crystal arrangement facilitates efficient light coupling to the nanocrystal layer, thereby increasing the electric field intensity within the perovskite film. As a result, CsPbBr 3 2D photonic crystals show amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) under lower optical excitation fluences in the near-IR, in contrast to equivalent flat NC films prepared using the same colloidal ink. This is attributed to the enhanced multi-photon absorption caused by light trapping in the photonic crystal.