Near-Complete Suppression of NIR-II Luminescence Quenching in Halide Double Perovskites for Surface Functionalization...

Lanthanide-based NIR-II-emitting materials (1000-1700 nm) show promise for optoelectronic devices, phototherapy, and bioimaging. However, one major bottleneck to prevent their widespread use lies in low quantum efficiencies, which are significantly constrained by various quenching effects. Here, a highly oriented (222) facet is achieved via facet engineering for Cs₂NaErCl₆ double perovskites, enabling near-complete suppression of NIR-II luminescence quenching. The optimally (222)-oriented Cs₂Ag_0.10Na_0.90ErCl₆ microcrystals emit Er³⁺ 1540 nm light with unprecedented high quantum efficiencies of 90 ± 6% under 379 nm UV excitation (ultralarge Stokes shift >1000 nm), and a record near-unity quantum yield of 98.6% is also obtained for (222)-based Cs₂NaYb_0.40Er_0.60Cl₆ microcrystallites under 980 nm excitation. With combined experimental and theoretical studies, the underlying mechanism of facet-dependent Er³⁺ 1540 nm emissions is revealed, which can contribute to surface asymmetry-induced breakdown of parity-forbidden transition and suppression of undesired non-radiative processes. Further, the role of surface quenching is reexamined by molecular dynamics based on two facets, highlighting the drastic two-phonon coupling effect of a hydroxyl group to ⁴I_13/2 level of Er³⁺. Surface-functionalized facets will provide new insights for tunable luminescence in double perovskites, and open up a new avenue for developing highly efficient NIR-II emitters toward broad applications.