Tailoring the high-brightness “warm” white light emission of two-dimensional perovskite crystals via a pressure-inhibited nonradiative transition

Efficient warm white light emission is an ideal characteristic of single-component materials for light-emitting applications. Although two-dimensional hybrid perovskites are promising candidates for light-emitting diodes, as they possess broadband self-trapped emission and outstanding stability, they rarely achieve a high photoluminescence quantum yield of warm white light emissions. Here, an unusual pressure-induced warm white emission enhancement phenomenon from 2.1 GPa to 9.9 GPa was observed in two-dimensional perovskite (2meptH(2))PbCl(4), accompanied by a large increase in the relative quantum yield of photoluminescence. The octahedral distortions, accompanied with the evolution of organic cations, triggered the structural collapse, which caused the sudden emission enhancement at 2.1 GPa. Afterwards, the further intra-octahedral collapse promotes the formation of self-trapped excitons and the substantial suppression of nonradiative transitions are responsible for the continuous pressure-induced photoluminescence enhancement. This study not only clearly illustrates the relationship between crystal structure and photoluminescence, but also provides an experimental basis for the synthesis of high-quality warm white light-emitting 2D metal halide perovskite materials.