Lanthanide-Induced Photoluminescence in Lead-Free Cs2AgBiBr6 Bulk Perovskite: Insights from Optical and Theoretical Investigations

Emphasis was recently placed on the Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskite as a possible candidate to substitute toxic lead in metal halide perovskites. However, its poor light-emissive features currently make it unsuitable for solid-state lighting. Lanthanide doping is an established strategy to implement luminescence in poorly emissive materials, with the additional advantage of fine-tuning the emission wavelength. We discuss here the impact of Eu and Yb doping on the optical properties of Cs2AgBiBr6 thin films, obtained from the solution processing of hydrothermally synthesized bulk crystalline powders, by combining experiments and density functional theory calculations. Eu(III) incorporation does not lead to the characteristic D-5(0) -> F-7(2) emission feature at 2 eV, while only a weak trap-assisted sub-band gap radiative emission is reported. Oppositely, we demonstrate that incorporated Yb(III) leads to an intense and exclusive photoluminescence emission in the near-infrared as a result of the efficient sensitization of the lanthanide F-2(5/2) -> F-2(7/2), transition.