Unraveling post-growth mechanisms of monolayer CsPbBr3 nanocubes: Laser-enhanced transformations and cathodoluminescence-electron microscopy correlations

Lead-halide perovskite nanoparticles (LHP NPs) are highly promising materials for next-generation displays and solid-state lighting due to their exceptional optical properties. However, their inherent instability presents a significant challenge. Recent advances have demonstrated that optoelectronic devices based on monolayer nanoparticle films exhibit both high luminescence efficiency and long-term stability. Our research demonstrates that mobility limitations and anisotropic alignments in CsPbBr 3 nanocube monolayer films are key to their stabilization, hindering spontaneous growth through face-to-face fusion and resulting in the formation of connecting necks in a diagonal direction. Introducing laser irradiation confirmed this by significantly accelerating nanocubes growth, increasing mobility, and enhancing local structural ordering, leading to larger and more regularly shaped nanosheets. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy line-scan analyses indicated that laser irradiation did not disrupt the ligand structure. Transmission electron microscopy and correlative cathodoluminescence electron microscopy revealed the effects of post-growth and heterogeneous structures, including enhanced luminescence and inhomogeneous intensity in the nanosheets. These findings deepen the understanding of the post-growth mechanism of monolayer nanoparticles and the structure-emission correlation and highlight the unique role of laser irradiation in directing the formation of well-defined and regular nanostructures.