Single-Crystal Thin Films of Cesium Lead Bromide Perovskite Epitaxially Grown on Metal Oxide Perovskite (SrTiO3)

High-quality metal halide perovskite single crystals have low defect densities and excellent photophysical properties, yet thin films are the most sought after material geometry for optoelectronic devices. Perovskite single-crystal thin films (SCTFs) would be highly desirable for high-performance devices, but their growth remains challenging, particularly for inorganic metal halide perovskites. Herein, we report the facile vapor-phase epitaxial growth of cesium lead bromide perovskite (CsPbBr3) continuous SCTFs with controllable micrometer thickness, as well as nanoplate arrays, on traditional oxide perovskite SrTiO3(100) substrates. Heteroepitaxial single-crystal growth is enabled by the serendipitous incommensurate lattice match between these two perovskites, and overcoming the limitation of island-forming Volmer–Weber crystal growth is critical for growing large-area continuous thin films. Time-resolved photoluminescence, transient reflection spectroscopy, and electrical transport measurements show that the CsPbBr3 epitaxial thin film has a slow charge carrier recombination rate, low surface recombination velocity (104 cm s–1), and low defect density of 1012 cm–3, which are comparable to those of CsPbBr3 single crystals. This work suggests a general approach using oxide perovskites as substrates for heteroepitaxial growth of halide perovskites. The high-quality halide perovskite SCTFs epitaxially integrated with multifunctional oxide perovskites could open up opportunities for a variety of high-performance optoelectronics devices.