Distinguishing metal halide molecular clusters from perovskite magic sized clusters in the synthesis of metal halide perovskite nanostructures

Abstract Background Research into perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) has uncovered interesting properties compared to their bulk counterparts, including tunable optical properties due to size‐dependent quantum confinement effect (QCE). More recently, smaller PNCs with even stronger QCE have been discovered, such as perovskite magic sized clusters (PMSCs) and ligand passivated PbX 2 metal halide molecular clusters (MHMCs) analogous to perovskites. Objective This review aims to present recent data comparing and contrasting the optical and structural properties of PQDs, PMSCs, and MHMCs, where CsPbBr 3 PQDs have first excitonic absorption around 520 nm, the corresponding PMSCS have absorption around 420 nm, and ligand passivated MHMCs absorb around 400 nm. Results Compared to normal perovskite quantum dots (PQDs), these clusters exhibit both a much bluer optical absorption and emission and larger surface‐to‐volume (S/V) ratio. Due to their larger S/V ratio, the clusters tend to have more surface defects that require more effective passivation for stability. Conclusion Recent study of novel clusters has led to better understanding of their properties. The sharper optical bands of clusters indicate relatively narrow or single size distribution, which, in conjunction with their blue absorption and emission, makes them potentially attractive for applications in fields such as blue single photon emission.