Triplet management for efficient perovskite light-emitting diodes

Careful harvesting of triplet excitons allows the realization of efficient green-emitting quasi-2D perovskite LEDs. Perovskite light-emitting diodes are promising for next-generation lighting and displays because of their high colour purity and performance(1). Although the management of singlet and triplet excitons is fundamental to the design of efficient organic light-emitting diodes, the nature of how excitons affect performance is still not clear in perovskite(2-4) and quasi-two-dimensional (2D) perovskite-based devices(5-9). Here, we show that triplet excitons are key to efficient emission in green quasi-2D perovskite devices and that quenching of triplets by the organic cation is a major loss path. Employing an organic cation with a high triplet energy level (phenylethylammonium) in a quasi-2D perovskite based on formamidinium lead bromide yields efficient harvesting of triplets. Furthermore, we show that upconversion of triplets to singlets can occur, making 100% harvesting of electrically generated excitons potentially possible. The external quantum and current efficiencies of our green (527 nm) devices reached 12.4% and 52.1 cd A(-1), respectively.