Recently, lanthanide-based 0D metal halides have attracted considerable attention for their applications in X-ray imaging, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), sensors, and photodetectors. Herein, lead-free 0D gadolinium-alloyed cesium cerium chloride (Gd3+-alloyed Cs3CeCl6) nanocrystals (NCs) are introduced as promising materials for optoelectronic application owing to their unique optical properties. The incorporation of Gd3+ in Cs3CeCl6 (CCC) NCs is proposed to increase the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) from 57% to 96%, along with significantly enhanced phase and chemical stability. The structural analysis is performed by density functional theory (DFT) to confirm the effect of Gd3+ in Cs3Ce1-xGdxCl6 (CCGC) alloy system. Moreover, the CCGC NCs are applied as the active layer in UVPDs with different Gd3+ concentration. The excellent device performance is shown at 20% of Gd3+ in CCGC NCs with high detectivity (7.938 × 1011 Jones) and responsivity (0.195 A W−1) at -0.1 V at 310 nm. This study paves the way for the development of lanthanide-based metal halide NCs for next-generation UVPDs and other optoelectronic applications.
J.W.M. and T.S. contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (RS-2024-00411892, NRF-2020M3H4A3081822), and the Samsung Research Funding & Incubation Center of Samsung Electronics under Project Number SRFC-TC2103-04.J.W.M. and T.S. contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (RS\u20102024\u201000411892, NRF\u20102020M3H4A3081822), and the Samsung Research Funding & Incubation Center of Samsung Electronics under Project Number SRFC\u2010TC2103\u201004.
