Centimeter-sized epitaxial h-BN films

Abstract

We report the growth and transfer of centimeter-sized, epitaxial hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) few-layer films using Ni(111) single-crystal substrates. The h-BN films were heteroepitaxially grown on 10 x 10 mm(2) or 20 x 20 mm(2) Ni(111) substrates using atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition with a single ammonia-borane precursor. The grown films were transferred to arbitrary substrates via an electrochemical delamination technique, and the remaining Ni(111) substrates were repeatedly re-used. A careful analysis of the growth parameters revealed that the crystallinity and area coverage of the h-BN films were mostly sensitive to the sublimation temperature of the ammonia-borane source. Moreover, various physical characterizations confirmed that the grown films exhibited the typical characteristics of hexagonal boron nitride layers over the entire area. Furthermore, the heteroepitaxial relationship between h-BN and Ni(111) and the overall crystallinity of the film were thoroughly investigated using a synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction analysis including theta-2. scans, grazing incident diffraction, and reciprocal space mapping. The crystallinity at the microscopic scale was further investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-based techniques, including selective area electron diffraction pattern mapping, electron back-scattered diffraction, and high-resolution