Transient Photoinduced Pb²⁺ Disproportionation for Exciton Self-Trapping and Broadband Emission in Low-Dimensional Lead Halide Perovskites

Low-dimensional lead halide perovskites with broadband emission hold great promise for single-component white-light-emitting (WLE) devices. The origin of their broadband emission has been commonly attributed to self-trapped excitons (STEs) composed of localized electronic polarization with a distorted lattice. Unfortunately, the exact electronic and structural nature of the STE species in these WLE materials remains elusive, hindering the rational design of high-efficiency WLE materials. In this study, by combining ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, we uncover surprisingly similar STE features in two prototypical low dimensional WLE perovskite single crystals: 1D (DMEDA)PbBr₄ and 2D (EDBE)PbBr₄, despite of their different dimensionalities. Photoexcited excitons rapidly localize to intrinsic STEs within ∼250 fs, contributing to the white light emission. Crucially, STEs in both systems exhibit characteristic absorption features akin to those of Pb⁺ and Pb³⁺. Further atomic level theoretical simulations confirm photoexcited electrons and holes are localized on the Pb²⁺ site to form Pb⁺- and Pb³⁺-like species, resembling transient photoinduced Pb²⁺ disproportionation. This study provides conclusive evidence on the key excited state species for exciton self-trapping and broadband emission in low dimensional lead halide WLE perovskites and paves the way for the rational design of high-efficiency WLE materials.