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Despite the fast progress of perovskite photovoltaic performances, understanding the crystallization and growth of perovskite films is still lagging. One unanswered fundamental question is whether the perovskite films are grown from top (air side) to bottom (substrate side) or from bottom to top despite 10 years of development. Here, by using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and morphology characterizations, we unveil that the perovskite films prepared by one-step solution processes, including antisolvent-assisted spin coating and blade coating, follow the downward growth from intermediate phase during thermal annealing. Such a top-to-bottom downward growth is initialized by the evaporation of residual solvent from the top surface of "wet" films and is less sensitive to perovskite compositions and the wettability of underlying substrates. Addressing this fundamental question is important to understand the heterogeneity of perovskite films along the vertical direction, which markedly affects the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells.

Molecular materials enable a vast variety of functionalities for novel electronic and spintronic devices. The unique possibility to alter organic molecules or metallic substrates offers the opportunity to optimize interfacial properties for almost any desired field of application. For this reason, we extend the successful approach to control metal-organic interfaces by surface alloying. We present a comprehensive characterization of the structural and electronic properties of the interface formed between the prototypical molecule PTCDA and a Sn-Ag surface alloy grown on an Ag(111) single crystal surface. We monitor the changes of adsorption height of the surface alloy atoms and electronic valence band structure upon adsorption of one layer of PTCDA using the normal incidence x-ray standing wave technique in combination with momentum-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. We find that the vertical buckling and the surface band structure of the $\mathrm{Sn}{\mathrm{Ag}}_{2}$ surface alloy is not altered by the adsorption of one layer of PTCDA, in contrast to our recent study of PTCDA on a $\mathrm{Pb}{\mathrm{Ag}}_{2}$ surface alloy [B. Stadtm\"uller et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 096805 (2016)]. In addition, the vertical adsorption geometry of PTCDA and the interfacial energy level alignment indicate the absence of any chemical interaction between the molecule and the surface alloy. We attribute the different interactions at these PTCDA/surface alloy interfaces to the presence or absence of local $\ensuremath{\sigma}$-bonds between the PTCDA oxygen atoms and the surface atoms. Combining our findings with results from literature, we are able to propose an empiric rule for engineering the surface band structure of alloys by adsorption of organic molecules.

Transport phenomena in molecular materials are intrinsically linked to the orbital character and the degree of localization of the valence states. Here we combine angle-resolved photoemission with photoemission tomography to determine the spatial distribution of all molecular states of the valence band structure of a ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ thin film. While the two most frontier valence states exhibit a strong band dispersion, the states at larger binding energies are characterized by distinct emission patterns in energy and momentum space. Our findings demonstrate the formation of an atomic crystal-like band structure in a molecular solid with delocalized $\ensuremath{\pi}$-like valence states and strongly localized $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ states at larger binding energies.

Our ability to understand and tailor metal-organic interfaces is mandatory to functionalize organic complexes for next generation electronic and spintronic devices. For magnetic data storage applications, metal-carrying organic molecules, the so-called single molecular magnets (SMM) are of particular interest as they yield the possibility to store information on the molecular scale. In this work, we focus on the adsorption properties of the prototypical SMM ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}\mathrm{N}@{\mathrm{C}}_{80}$ grown in a monolayer film on the Ag(111) substrate. We provide clear evidence of a pyramidal distortion of the otherwise planar ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}\mathrm{N}$ core inside the carbon cage upon the adsorption on the Ag(111) surface. This adsorption-induced structural change of the ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}\mathrm{N}@{\mathrm{C}}_{80}$ molecule can be correlated to a charge transfer from the substrate into the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}\mathrm{N}@{\mathrm{C}}_{80}$, which significantly alters the charge density of the fullerene core. Our comprehensive characterization of the ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}\mathrm{N}@{\mathrm{C}}_{80}$-Ag(111) interface hence reveals an indirect coupling mechanism between the ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}\mathrm{N}$ core of the fullerene molecule and the noble metal surface mediated via an interfacial charge transfer. Our work shows that such an indirect coupling between the encapsulated metal centers of SMM and metal surfaces can strongly affect the geometric structure of the metallic centers and thereby potentially also alters the magnetic properties of SMMs on surfaces.

Electronic coupling and ground-state charge transfer at the C60 /ZnO hybrid interface is shown to localize carriers in the C60 phase. This effect, revealed by resonant X-ray photoemission, arises from interfacial hybridization between C60 and ZnO. Such localization at carrier-selective electrodes and interlayers may lead to severely reduced carrier harvesting efficiencies and increased recombination rates in organic electronic devices.

Energy level alignment and electronic structure at organic semiconductor interfaces must be controlled to ensure efficient carrier harvesting or injection in next-generation organic optoelectronic technologies. In this context, hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor interfaces exhibit particularly rich physics. Here, we show that states in the band gap of the inorganic layered van der Waals dichalcogenide SnS2 play an important role in determining energy level alignment at the hybrid interface with copper phthalocyanine (CuPc). By taking advantage of the closely related CuPc film growth on SnS2 and the well-studied interface of CuPc/HOPG, we are able to trace spectroscopic differences to the fundamentally different electronic interactions across the two interfaces. We provide a detailed picture of the role of gap states at the hybrid interface and shed light on the electronic properties of inorganic semiconductors in general and metal dichalcogenides in particular.

The interfacial electronic structure between oxide thin films and organic semiconductors remains a key parameter for optimum functionality and performance of next-generation organic/hybrid electronics. By tailoring defect concentrations in transparent conductive ZnO films, we demonstrate the importance of controlling the electron transfer barrier at the interface with organic acceptor molecules such as C60. A combination of electron spectroscopy, density functional theory computations, and device characterization is used to determine band alignment and electron injection barriers. Extensive experimental and first principles calculations reveal the controllable formation of hybridized interface states and charge transfer between shallow donor defects in the oxide layer and the molecular adsorbate. Importantly, it is shown that removal of shallow donor intragap states causes a larger barrier for electron injection. Thus, hybrid interface states constitute an important gateway for nearly barrier-free charge carrier injection. These findings open new avenues to understand and tailor interfaces between organic semiconductors and transparent oxides, of critical importance for novel optoelectronic devices and applications in energy-conversion and sensor technologies.

We investigate the evolution of the interfacial electronic structure and dynamics of thin films of the organic semiconductor vanadyl naphthalocyanine on Au(111). Using angle-resolved two-photon photoemission, a comprehensive coverage- and excitation-energy-dependent characterisation of the electronic structure and the resulting dynamics of short-lived image potential resonances (IPRs) on Au(111) are presented. The study of these quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) bands is enabled by molecular adsorption and reveals a significant lengthening of their lifetimes. The resonances remain, however, significantly coupled to the continuum of bulk bands of Au(111) even in the presence of the organic adsorbate, giving rise to Fano-like quantum interference and ‘intensity switching’ effects. Coupling to the continuum is also responsible for providing excitation pathways to the image potential manifold above and below optical resonance with the Shockley surface state. The organic semiconductor interface and quasi-2D ban...

We investigate the interfacial electronic structure of the dipolar organic semiconductor vanadyl naphthalocyanine on Au(111) in a combined computational and experimental approach to understand the role of the permanent molecular dipole moment on energy-level alignment at this interface. First-principles Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations on such large systems are challenging, due to the large computational cost and the need to accurately consider dispersion interactions. Our DFT results with dispersion correction show a molecular deformation upon adsorption but no strong chemical bond formation. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements show a considerable workfunction change of -0.73(2) eV upon growth of the first monolayer, which is well reproduced by the DFT calculations. This shift originates from a large electron density "push-back" effect at the gold surface, whereas the large out-of-plane vanadyl dipole moment plays only a minor role.

Despite significant interest in hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor interfaces, little is known regarding the fate of charge carriers at metal oxide interfaces, particularly on ultrafast time scales. Using core-hole clock spectroscopy, we investigate the ultrafast charge carrier dynamics of conductive ZnO films at a hybrid interface with an organic semiconductor. The adsorption of C60 on the ZnO surface strongly suppresses the ultrafast carrier delocalization and increases the charge carrier residence time from 400 attoseconds to nearly 30 fs. Here, we show that a new hybridized interfacial density of states with substantial molecular character is formed, fundamentally altering the observed carrier dynamics. The remarkable change in the dynamics sheds light on the fate of carriers at hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor interfaces relevant to organic optoelectronics and provides for the first time an atomistic picture of the electronically perturbed near-interface region of a metal oxide.

Here we report a novel suite of magnetogenetic tools, based on a single anti-ferritin nanobody-TRPV1 receptor fusion protein, which regulated neuronal activity when exposed to magnetic fields. AAV-mediated delivery of a floxed nanobody-TRPV1 into the striatum of adenosine 2a receptor-cre driver mice resulted in motor freezing when placed in an MRI or adjacent to a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device. Functional imaging and fiber photometry both confirmed activation of the target region in response to the magnetic fields. Expression of the same construct in the striatum of wild-type mice along with a second injection of an AAVretro expressing cre into the globus pallidus led to similar circuit specificity and motor responses. Finally, a mutation was generated to gate chloride and inhibit neuronal activity. Expression of this variant in subthalamic nucleus in PitX2-cre parkinsonian mice resulted in reduced local c-fos expression and motor rotational behavior. These data demonstrate that magnetogenetic constructs can bidirectionally regulate activity of specific neuronal circuits non-invasively in-vivo using clinically available devices., Competing Interests: Competing interest The authors declare no competing interests.

The ability to precisely control the activity of defined cell populations enables studies of their physiological roles and may provide therapeutic applications. While prior studies have shown that magnetic activation of ferritin-tagged ion channels allows cell-specific modulation of cellular activity, the large size of the constructs made the use of adeno-associated virus, AAV, the vector of choice for gene therapy, impractical. In addition, simple means for generating magnetic fields of sufficient strength have been lacking. Toward these ends, we first generated a novel anti-ferritin nanobody that when fused to transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1, TRPV1, enables direct binding of the channel to endogenous ferritin in mouse and human cells. This smaller construct can be delivered in a single AAV and we validated that it robustly enables magnetically induced cell activation in vitro . In parallel, we developed a simple benchtop electromagnet capable of gating the nanobody-tagged channel in vivo . Finally, we showed that delivering these new constructs by AAV to pancreatic beta cells in combination with the benchtop magnetic field delivery stimulates glucose-stimulated insulin release to improve glucose tolerance in mice in vivo . Together, the novel anti-ferritin nanobody, nanobody-TRPV1 construct and new hardware advance the utility of magnetogenetics in animals and potentially humans., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest JMF and SAS are named inventors of the intellectual property, "Compositions and Methods to Modulate Cell Activity”.