Colloid driven low supersaturation crystallization for atomically thin Bismuth halide perovskite

Abstract

It is challenging to grow atomically thin non-van der Waals perovskite due to the strong electronic coupling between adjacent layers. Here, we present a colloid-driven low supersaturation crystallization strategy to grow atomically thin Cs₃Bi₂Br₉. The colloid solution drives low-concentration solute in a supersaturation state, contributing to initial heterogeneous nucleation. Simultaneously, the colloids provide a stable precursor source in the low-concentration solute. The surfactant is absorbed in specific crystal nucleation facet resulting in the anisotropic growth of planar dominance. Ionic perovskite Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ is readily grown from monolayered to six-layered Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ corresponding to thicknesses of 0.7, 1.6, 2.7, 3.6, 4.6 and 5.7 nm. The atomically thin Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ presents layer-dependent nonlinear optical performance and stacking-induced second harmonic generation. This work provides a concept for growing atomically thin halide perovskite with non-van der Waal structures and demonstrates potential application for atomically thin single crystals' growth with strong electronic coupling between adjacent layers.