| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| 2D Materials Focus Topic | Monday Sessions |
| Session 2D+MI-MoA |
| Session: | Novel 2D Materials |
| Presenter: | Axel Enders, University of Bayreuth, Germany |
| Authors: | A. Enders, University of Bayreuth, Germany S. Beniwal, University of Nebraska - Lincoln J. Hooper, Jagiellonian University, Poland DP. Miller, SUNY Buffalo P.S. Costa, University of Nebraska - Lincoln S.Y. Liu, Boston College E.C.H. Sykes, Tufts University E. Zurek, SUNY Buffalo |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Two-dimensional h-BCN, synthesized from the precursor molecule bis-BN cyclohexane on the (111) surfaces of Ir and Rh under ultrahigh vacuum, was investigated with a comprehensively suite of in-situ local probe microscopy and spectroscopy methods. The lattice structure of h-BCN is identical to that of graphene, with the graphenic sites occupied by atoms of boron, nitrogen and carbon. The film morphology exhibits a strain driven corrugation with a periodicity of 3.2 nm, reminiscent of published results for epitaxial graphene and h-BN. Due to differences in the epitaxial fit and interfacial interactions, this corrugation is more ordered on the Rh surface. Out of several candidate structures that are feasible by connecting the B2C2N2 rings of the precursor molecules, the most likely film structure was established through combined density functional theory and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy that studies the chemical environment of the film’s atoms. Local tunneling spectroscopy shows an electronic band gap of h-BCN of 1.0 eV on Rh(111) and of 1.5 eV on Ir(111). On the basis of these measured gaps and the computationally predicted electronic band structure, especially a direct electronic band gap that is intermediate to those of the zero-band gap semiconductor graphene and the insulating h-BN, and the theoretical prediction that the band gap is dependent on the molecular tiling, it can be expected that the h-BCN layers are potentially exciting candidates for 2D electronic materials.
S. Beniwal, J. Hooper, D. P. Miller, P. S. Costa, G. Chen, S.-Y. Liu, P. A. Dowben, E. C. H. Sykes, E. Zurek, and A. Enders, “Graphene-like Boron–Carbon–Nitrogen Monolayers,” ACS Nano, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 2486–2493, Mar. 2017.