Epitaxial growth of a 100-square-centimetre single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride monolayer on copper

Li Wang, Xiaozhi Xu, Leining Zhang, Ruixi Qiao, Muhong Wu, Zhichang Wang, Shuai Zhang, Jing Liang, Zhihong Zhang, Zhibin Zhang, Wang Chen, Xuedong Xie, Junyu Zong, Yuwei Shan, Yi Guo, Marc Willinger, Hui Wu, Qunyang Li, Wenlong Wang, Peng Gao, Shiwei Wu, Yi Zhang, Ying Jiang, Dapeng Yu, Enge Wang, Xuedong Bai (), Zhu-Jun Wang (), Feng Ding () and Kaihui Liu ()
Additional contact information
Li Wang: Peking University
Xiaozhi Xu: Peking University
Leining Zhang: Institute for Basic Science
Ruixi Qiao: Peking University
Muhong Wu: Peking University
Zhichang Wang: Peking University
Shuai Zhang: Tsinghua University
Jing Liang: Peking University
Zhihong Zhang: Peking University
Zhibin Zhang: Peking University
Wang Chen: Nanjing University
Xuedong Xie: Nanjing University
Junyu Zong: Nanjing University
Yuwei Shan: Fudan University
Yi Guo: Peking University
Marc Willinger: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Hui Wu: Tsinghua University
Qunyang Li: Tsinghua University
Wenlong Wang: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peng Gao: Peking University
Shiwei Wu: Fudan University
Yi Zhang: Nanjing University
Ying Jiang: Peking University
Dapeng Yu: South University of Science and Technology of China
Enge Wang: Songshan Lake Laboratory for Materials Science
Xuedong Bai: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhu-Jun Wang: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Feng Ding: Institute for Basic Science
Kaihui Liu: Peking University

Nature, 2019, vol. 570, issue 7759, 91-95

Abstract: Abstract The development of two-dimensional (2D) materials has opened up possibilities for their application in electronics, optoelectronics and photovoltaics, because they can provide devices with smaller size, higher speed and additional functionalities compared with conventional silicon-based devices1. The ability to grow large, high-quality single crystals for 2D components—that is, conductors, semiconductors and insulators—is essential for the industrial application of 2D devices2–4. Atom-layered hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), with its excellent stability, flat surface and large bandgap, has been reported to be the best 2D insulator5–12. However, the size of 2D hBN single crystals is typically limited to less than one millimetre13–18, mainly because of difficulties in the growth of such crystals; these include excessive nucleation, which precludes growth from a single nucleus to large single crystals, and the threefold symmetry of the hBN lattice, which leads to antiparallel domains and twin boundaries on most substrates19. Here we report the epitaxial growth of a 100-square-centimetre single-crystal hBN monolayer on a low-symmetry Cu (110) vicinal surface, obtained by annealing an industrial copper foil. Structural characterizations and theoretical calculations indicate that epitaxial growth was achieved by the coupling of Cu step edges with hBN zigzag edges, which breaks the equivalence of antiparallel hBN domains, enabling unidirectional domain alignment better than 99 per cent. The growth kinetics, unidirectional alignment and seamless stitching of the hBN domains are unambiguously demonstrated using centimetre- to atomic-scale characterization techniques. Our findings are expected to facilitate the wide application of 2D devices and lead to the epitaxial growth of broad non-centrosymmetric 2D materials, such as various transition-metal dichalcogenides20–23, to produce large single crystals.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1226-z

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