New Research In
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
- Agricultural Sciences
- Anthropology
- Applied Biological Sciences
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics and Computational Biology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Ecology
- Environmental Sciences
- Evolution
- Genetics
- Immunology and Inflammation
- Medical Sciences
- Microbiology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Physiology
- Plant Biology
- Population Biology
- Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
- Sustainability Science
- Systems Biology
Lasing in robust cesium lead halide perovskite nanowires
Contributed by Stephen R. Leone, January 19, 2016 (sent for review January 13, 2016; reviewed by Xiangfeng Duan and Edward H. Sargent)

Significance
Nanowire lasers are miniaturized light sources with great potential for integration into optoelectronic circuits. Many of the current nanowire lasers either require extreme conditions for synthesis or suffer from poor operational stability. We synthesize nanowires of a promising set of compositions, the cesium lead halides, and accomplish this under near-ambient conditions. These nanowires act as efficient laser cavities and are capable of lasing with relatively low excitation thresholds. They also demonstrate unprecedented stability for a perovskite-based nanowire laser and offer a new nanoscale platform for future study.
Abstract
The rapidly growing field of nanoscale lasers can be advanced through the discovery of new, tunable light sources. The emission wavelength tunability demonstrated in perovskite materials is an attractive property for nanoscale lasers. Whereas organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite materials are known for their instability, cesium lead halides offer a robust alternative without sacrificing emission tunability or ease of synthesis. Here, we report the low-temperature, solution-phase growth of cesium lead halide nanowires exhibiting low-threshold lasing and high stability. The as-grown nanowires are single crystalline with well-formed facets, and act as high-quality laser cavities. The nanowires display excellent stability while stored and handled under ambient conditions over the course of weeks. Upon optical excitation, Fabry–Pérot lasing occurs in CsPbBr3 nanowires with an onset of 5 μJ cm−2 with the nanowire cavity displaying a maximum quality factor of 1,009 ± 5. Lasing under constant, pulsed excitation can be maintained for over 1 h, the equivalent of 109 excitation cycles, and lasing persists upon exposure to ambient atmosphere. Wavelength tunability in the green and blue regions of the spectrum in conjunction with excellent stability makes these nanowire lasers attractive for device fabrication.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: srl{at}berkeley.edu or p_yang{at}berkeley.edu.
Author contributions: S.W.E., M.L., N.A.G., A.B.W., J.M., L.-W.W., S.R.L., and P.Y. designed research; S.W.E., M.L., N.A.G., A.B.W., L.D., and J.M. performed research; S.W.E., M.L., N.A.G., A.B.W., J.M., and P.Y. analyzed data; and S.W.E., M.L., N.A.G., S.R.L., and P.Y. wrote the paper.
Reviewers: X.D., University of California, Los Angeles; and E.H.S., University of Toronto.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1600789113/-/DCSupplemental.
Citation Manager Formats
Sign up for Article Alerts
Article Classifications
- Physical Sciences
- Chemistry