Common Perovskite Superfluoresces at High Temperatures

Graphical representation of superfluorescent evolution. An incoherent ensemble of dipoles is shown on the left. Arrows indicate the randomly distributed phases of individual dipoles. The red waves resemble vacuum fluctuations, which lead to spontaneous synchronization. After a time delay, the phases of the excited dipoles are locked, forming a macroscopic quantum coherent state: a ‘giant atom’ (on the right). This macroscopic state interacts with the radiation field collectively. The system is then described as a single wavefunction of indistinguishable particles. The collective emission of the macroscopic coherent system leads to a superfluorescent burst.
Graphical representation of superfluorescent evolution. An incoherent ensemble of dipoles is shown on the left. Arrows indicate the randomly distributed phases of individual dipoles. The red waves resemble vacuum fluctuations, which lead to spontaneous synchronization. After a time delay, the phases of the excited dipoles are locked, forming a macroscopic quantum coherent state: a ‘giant atom’ (on the right). This macroscopic state interacts with the radiation field collectively. The system is then described as a single wavefunction of indistinguishable particles. The collective emission of the macroscopic coherent system leads to a superfluorescent burst.

Light–matter interactions can create and manipulate collective many-body phases in solids, which are promising for the realization of emerging quantum applications. However, in most cases, these collective quantum states are fragile, with a short decoherence and dephasing time, limiting their existence to precision tailored structures under delicate conditions such as cryogenic temperatures and/or high magnetic fields. In this work, it was discovered that the hybrid perovskite, CH3NH3PbI3 thin film, exhibits superfluorescence, at 78 K and above. Pulsed laser excitation first creates a population of high-energy electron–hole pairs, which quickly relax to lower energy domains and then develop a macroscopic quantum coherence through spontaneous synchronization. These results show that the creation and manipulation of collective coherent states in hybrid perovskites can be used as the basic building blocks for quantum applications.

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Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)