1. Oxidising and carburising catalyst conditioning for the controlled growth and transfer of large crystal monolayer hexagonal boron nitride
- Author
-
Martin Otto, Vitaliy Babenko, Robert S. Weatherup, Ye Fan, Oliver J. Burton, Barbara Canto, Stephan Hofmann, Vlad-Petru Veigang-Radulescu, Jack A. Alexander-Webber, Barry Brennan, Daniel Neumaier, Andrew J. Pollard, Babenko, V [0000-0001-5372-6487], Brennan, B [0000-0002-5754-4100], Alexander-Webber, JA [0000-0002-9374-7423], Weatherup, RS [0000-0002-3993-9045], Canto, B [0000-0001-5885-9852], Neumaier, D [0000-0002-7394-9159], Hofmann, S [0000-0001-6375-1459], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, Babenko, Vitaliy [0000-0001-5372-6487], Fan, Ye [0000-0003-0998-5881], Burton, Oliver [0000-0002-2060-1714], Alexander-Webber, Jack [0000-0002-9374-7423], Weatherup, Robert [0000-0002-3993-9045], Hofmann, Stephan [0000-0001-6375-1459], Brennan, Barry [0000-0002-5754-4100], Alexander-Webber, Jack A [0000-0002-9374-7423], Weatherup, Robert S [0000-0002-3993-9045], Canto, Barbara [0000-0001-5885-9852], and Neumaier, Daniel [0000-0002-7394-9159]
- Subjects
Paper ,Materials science ,Fabrication ,Iron oxide ,FOS: Physical sciences ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,law.invention ,chemical vapor deposition ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Impurity ,law ,Etching (microfabrication) ,monolayer ,Monolayer ,General Materials Science ,hexagonal boron nitride ,FOIL method ,Condensed Matter - Materials Science ,Focus on Scalable Encapsulation of 2D Materials ,Graphene ,Mechanical Engineering ,large crystal ,Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) ,General Chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Condensed Matter Physics ,2D materials ,0104 chemical sciences ,Chemical engineering ,chemistry ,Mechanics of Materials ,encapsulation ,0210 nano-technology ,Layer (electronics) ,transfer - Abstract
Funder: H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010665, Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is well-established as a requisite support, encapsulant and barrier for 2D material technologies, but also recently as an active material for applications ranging from hyperbolic metasurfaces to room temperature single-photon sources. Cost-effective, scalable and high quality growth techniques for h-BN layers are critically required. We utilise widely-available iron foils for the catalytic chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of h BN and report on the significant role of bulk dissolved species in h-BN CVD, and specifically, the balance between dissolved oxygen and carbon. A simple pre-growth conditioning step of the iron foils enables us to tailor an error-tolerant scalable CVD process to give exceptionally large h-BN monolayer domains. We also develop a facile method for the improved transfer of as-grown h-BN away from the iron surface by means of the controlled humidity oxidation and subsequent rapid etching of a thin interfacial iron oxide; thus, avoiding the impurities from the bulk of the foil. We demonstrate wafer-scale (2 inch) production and utilise this h-BN as a protective layer for graphene towards integrated (opto) electronic device fabrication., European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No number 785219. European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No number 796388. the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (Global) under grant ARTIST (No. 656870). EPSRC (EP/P005152/1, and Doctoral Training Award EP/M508007/1). U.K. Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (NPL Project Number 121452).
- Published
- 2019