Synergistic passivation and stepped-dimensional perovskite analogs enable high-efficiency near-infrared light-emitting diodes.

Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI₃) perovskites are promising emitters for near-infrared light-emitting diodes. However, their performance is still limited by defect-assisted nonradiative recombination and band offset-induced carrier aggregation at the interface. Herein, we introduce a couple of cadmium salts with acetate or halide anion into the FAPbI₃ perovskite precursors to synergistically passivate the material defects and optimize the device band structure. Particularly, the perovskite analogs, containing zero-dimensional formamidinium cadmium iodide, one-dimensional δ-FAPbI₃, two-dimensional FA₂FA_n-1Pb_nI_3n+1, and three-dimensional α-FAPbI₃, can be obtained in one pot and play a pivotal and positive role in energy transfer in the formamidinium iodide-rich lead-based perovskite films. As a result, the near-infrared FAPbI₃-based devices deliver a maximum external quantum efficiency of 24.1% together with substantially improved operational stability. Combining our findings on defect passivation and energy transfer, we also achieve near-infrared light communication with device twins of light emitting and unprecedented self-driven detection. Defect-assisted nonradiative recombination and carrier aggregation at the interface hinder the potential of perovskites as emitter for light-emitting diodes. Here, Fang et al. achieve an external quantum efficiency of 24.1% by combining multidimensional perovskite with cascade conduction bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]