Cesium Copper Halide Perovskite Nanocrystal-Based Photon-Managing Devices for Enhanced Ultraviolet Photon Harvesting

Space-based solar power harvesting systems with high levels of specific power (the power produced per mass of the mounted photovoltaic cell) are highly desired. In this study, we synthesized high quality lead-free Cs₃Cu₂Cl₅ perovskite nanodisks with efficient ultraviolet (UV) photon absorption, high photoluminescence quantum yields, and a large Stokes shift, which are suitable to serve as photon energy downshifting emitters in the applications of photon-managing devices especially for space solar power harvesting. To demonstrate this possibility, we have fabricated two types of photon-managing devices, i.e., luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) and luminescent downshifting (LDS) layers. Both experimental results and simulation analyses show that the fabricated LSC and LDS devices exhibit high visible light transmission, low photon scattering and reabsorption energy loss, high UV photon harvesting, and energy conversion after integrating with silicon-based photovoltaic cells. Our research presents a new avenue for utilizing lead-free perovskite nanomaterials in space applications.