Nanocrystalline-Graphene-Tailored Hexagonal Boron Nitride Thin Films

Unintentionally formed nanocrystalline graphene (nc-G) can act as a useful seed for the large-area synthesis of a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin film with an atomically flat surface that is comparable to that of exfoliated single-crystal h-BN. A wafer-scale dielectric h-BN thin film was successfully synthesized on a bare sapphire substrate by assistance of nc-G, which prevented structural deformations in a chemical vapor deposition process. The growth mechanism of this nc-G-tailored h-BN thin film was systematically analyzed. This approach provides a novel method for preparing high-quality two-dimensional materials on a large surface. A hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin film with an atomically flat surface was obtained using unintentionally formed nanocrystalline graphene (nc-G). A wafer-scale dielectric h-BN thin film was synthesized on a bare sapphire substrate with the assistance of nc-G, which prevented structural deformations during chemical vapor deposition. The sp³-hybridized edges of nc-G play a key role during these processes.