biostudies-literatureLi MNanyang Technological University (NTU)National Research Foundation Singapore (National Research Foundation-Prime Minister's office, Republic of Singapore)Ministry of Education - Singapore (MOE)DOD | ONR | Office of Naval Research GlobalNanyang Technological UniversityMinistry of Education - SingaporeNational Research Foundation SingaporeDOD | ONR | Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global)4197https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6180109biostudies-literatureUnknown9(1)Multiple exciton generation (MEG) or carrier multiplication, a process that spawns two or more electron-hole pairs from an absorbed high-energy photon (larger than two times bandgap energy E_g), is a promising way to augment the photocurrent and overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit. Conventional semiconductor nanocrystals, the forerunners, face severe challenges from fast hot-carrier cooling. Perovskite nanocrystals possess an intrinsic phonon bottleneck that prolongs slow hot-carrier cooling, transcending these limitations. Herein, we demonstrate enhanced MEG with 2.25E_g threshold and 75% slope efficiency in intermediate-confined colloidal formamidinium lead iodide nanocrystals, surpassing those in strongly confined lead sulfide or lead selenide incumbents. Efficient MEG occurs via inverse Auger process within 90 fs, afforded by the slow cooling of energetic hot carriers. These nanocrystals circumvent the conundrum over enhanced Coulombic coupling and reduced density of states in strongly confined nanocrystals. These insights may lead to the realization of next generation of solar cells and efficient optoelectronic devices.Nature communicationsLow threshold and efficient multiple exciton generation in halide perovskite nanocrystals.PMC6180109NRF-NRFI-2018-04M4080514MOE2016-T2-1-034RG173/16ONRG-NICOP-N62909-17-1-2155MOE2015-T2-2-015M4082176NRF-CRP14-2014-03Sum TCKoh TMGratzel MXu QBegum RFu JMhaisalkar SVeldhuis SALi MMathews NfalseLow threshold and efficient multiple exciton generation in halide perovskite nanocrystals.Multiple exciton generation (MEG) or carrier multiplication, a process that spawns two or more electron-hole pairs from an absorbed high-energy photon (larger than two times bandgap energy E_g), is a promising way to augment the photocurrent and overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit. Conventional semiconductor nanocrystals, the forerunners, face severe challenges from fast hot-carrier cooling. Perovskite nanocrystals possess an intrinsic phonon bottleneck that prolongs slow hot-carrier cooling, transcending these limitations. Herein, we demonstrate enhanced MEG with 2.25E_g threshold and 75% slope efficiency in intermediate-confined colloidal formamidinium lead iodide nanocrystals, surpassing those in strongly confined lead sulfide or lead selenide incumbents. Efficient MEG occurs via inverse Auger process within 90 fs, afforded by the slow cooling of energetic hot carriers. These nanocrystals circumvent the conundrum over enhanced Coulombic coupling and reduced density of states in strongly confined nanocrystals. These insights may lead to the realization of next generation of solar cells and efficient optoelectronic devices.2018-01-01T00:00:00Z2018 Oct2025-04-04T23:34:56.318Z2019-03-27T00:02:31ZS-EPMC61801093030563310.1038/s41467-018-06596-1