TY - GEN A1 - Kot, Małgorzata A1 - Henkel, Karsten A1 - Müller, Klaus A1 - Kegelmann, Lukas A1 - Albrecht, Steve A1 - Tsud, Nataliya A1 - Kús, Peter A1 - Matolinová, Iva A1 - Schmeißer, Dieter T1 - Al2O3-Atomic Layer Deposited Films on CH3NH3PbI3 : Intrinsic Defects and Passivation Mechanisms T2 - Energy Technology , The Journal of Physical Chemistry C N2 - The initial interaction of atomic layer deposited films of Al2O3 at room temperature on CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPI) films is studied. Synchrotron radiation–based photoelectron spectroscopy is applied to analyze the initial changes in the Al-derived features by comparing samples with different Al2O3 film thicknesses. It is found that polarons and excitons, both intrinsic defects of Al2O3, play a key role in the interface formation. The polaronic states uptake a charge from the MAPI substrate. This charge is transferred to and stabilized in the excitonic state of Al2O3 which is assigned to predominately tetrahedral coordinated Al sites. This charge transfer is initiated by vacancies present in the MAPI substrate and stabilizes a covalent bonding at the Al2O3–MAPI interface but also causes a roughening of the interface which may lead to the formation of grain boundaries. On top of the rough interface, 2D Al2O3 clusters with an increasing number of octahedrally coordinated Al—O bonds grow, and with increasing Al2O3 coverage, they introduce self-healing of the structural defects. KW - charge donation and transfer cycles KW - covalent interfaces KW - defect monitoring KW - model of Al2O3–CH3NH3PbI3 interactions KW - resonant photoelectron spectroscopy Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201900975 SN - 2194-4288 SN - 2194-4296 VL - 7 IS - 11 ER -