Exciton Transport in CsPbBr₃ Nanocrystal Solids

In semiconductors, exciton or charge carrier diffusivity is typically described as an inherent material property. Here, we show that the transport of excitons (i.e., bound electron-hole pairs) in CsPbBr₃ perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) depends markedly on how recently those NCs were occupied by a previous exciton. Using fluence- and repetition-rate-dependent transient photoluminescence microscopy, we visualize the effect of excitation frequency on exciton transport in CsPbBr₃ NC solids. Surprisingly, we observe a striking dependence of the apparent exciton diffusivity on excitation laser power that does not arise from nonlinear exciton-exciton interactions nor from thermal heating of the sample. We interpret our observations with a model in which excitons cause NCs to undergo a transition to a metastable configuration that admits faster exciton transport by roughly an order of magnitude. This metastable configuration persists for ~microseconds at room temperature, and does not depend on the identity of surface ligands or presence of an oxide shell, suggesting that it is an intrinsic response of the perovskite lattice to electronic excitation. The exciton diffusivity observed here (>0.15 cm²/s) is considerably higher than that observed in other NC systems on similar timescales, revealing unusually strong excitonic coupling in a NC material. The finding of a persistent enhancement in excitonic coupling between NCs may help explain other extraordinary photophysical behaviors observed in CsPbBr₃ NC arrays, such as superfluorescence. Additionally, faster exciton diffusivity under higher photoexcitation intensity is likely to provide practical insights for optoelectronic device engineering.