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Atomic layers of hybridized boron nitride and graphene domains

Nature Materials volume 9, pages 430–435 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Two-dimensional materials, such as graphene and monolayer hexagonal BN (h-BN), are attractive for demonstrating fundamental physics in materials and potential applications in next-generation electronics. Atomic sheets containing hybridized bonds involving elements B, N and C over wide compositional ranges could result in new materials with properties complementary to those of graphene and h-BN, enabling a rich variety of electronic structures, properties and applications. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of large-area atomic layers of h-BNC material, consisting of hybridized, randomly distributed domains of h-BN and C phases with compositions ranging from pure BN to pure graphene. Our studies reveal that their structural features and bandgap are distinct from those of graphene, doped graphene and h-BN. This new form of hybrid h-BNC material enables the development of bandgap-engineered applications in electronics and optics and properties that are distinct from those of graphene and h-BN.

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Figure 1: Characteristics of an h-BNC film.
Figure 2: Atomic HRTEM images of h-BNC film.
Figure 3: Evidence for hybridized h-BN and graphene domain-like structure of h-BNC.
Figure 4: Electrical properties of h-BNC atomic films.

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Acknowledgements

P.M.A. acknowledges support from Rice University start-up funds and funding support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) through the MURI programme on graphene and the Basic Energy Sciences division of the Department of Energy (DOE). L.C. (for work carried out on graphene growth and structural characterization) was supported by the ONR MURI programme (award No N00014-09-1-1066) and L.S. (for work done in device fabrication and electrical characterization) by DOE-BES programme DE-SC0001479. C.J. acknowledges the International Balzan Foundation for financial support through Meijo University. F.L. acknowledges support from DOE-BES programme DE-FG0203ER46027. Y.L. acknowledges a scholarship from the Chinese State Scholarship fund. A.S. acknowledges support from the BOYSCAST scheme sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India. K.S. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation programme (NSF-MRI) DMR-0619801 (for the dilution refrigerator) and the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE-NNSA) DE-FG52-05NA27036 (17 T magnet and 3He system) and the PVAMU Title III Program US Department of Education (infrastructure). L.B. acknowledges support from DOE-BES and NHMFL-UCGP programmes.

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Author notes

  1. Deep Jariwala, Yongjie Li & Anchal Srivastava

    Present address: Present addresses: Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India (D.J.); Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India (A.S.); Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China (Y.L.),

  2. Lijie Ci and Li Song: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA

    Lijie Ci, Li Song, Deep Jariwala, Yongjie Li, Anchal Srivastava & Pulickel M. Ajayan

  2. Nanotube Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan

    Chuanhong Jin

  3. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA

    Dangxin Wu, Z. F. Wang & Feng Liu

  4. Department of Physics, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas 77446, USA

    Kevin Storr

  5. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, USA

    Luis Balicas

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Contributions

L.C. and L.S. contributed equally to this work. L.C. and L.S. designed and carried out most of the experiments (CVD, TEM, AFM, XPS, Raman, ultraviolet–visible spectra, electrical test), and analysed the data. C.J. carried out atomically resolved HRTEM work. D.J. and A.S. conducted part of the CVD growth. Y.L. conducted part of the XPS measurement. K.S., L.B. and L.S. conducted electrical measurements and data analysis. D.W., Z.F.W. and F.L. carried out the modelling. P.M.A was responsible for the project planning. L.C., L.S., P.M.A. and F.L. co-wrote the paper. All the authors discussed the results.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pulickel M. Ajayan.

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Ci, L., Song, L., Jin, C. et al. Atomic layers of hybridized boron nitride and graphene domains. Nature Mater 9, 430–435 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2711

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