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Binder J, Dabrowska AK, Tokarczyk M, Rousseau A, Valvin P, Bozek R, Nogajewski K, Kowalski G, Pacuski W, Gil B, Cassabois G, Stepniewski R, Wysmolek A. Homoepitaxy of Boron Nitride on Exfoliated Hexagonal Boron Nitride Flakes. NANO LETTERS 2024; 24:6990-6996. [PMID: 38818969 PMCID: PMC11177313 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c01310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Revised: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Although large efforts have been made to improve the growth of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) by heteroepitaxy, the non-native substrates remain a fundamental factor that limits the quality. This problem can be solved by homoepitaxy, which is the growth of hBN on hBN substrates. In this report, we demonstrate the homoepitaxial growth of triangular BN grains on exfoliated hBN flakes by Metal-Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy and show by atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence that the stacking of these triangular islands can deviate from the AA' stacking of hBN. We show that the stacking order is enforced by the crystallographic direction of the edge of the exfoliated hBN flakes, with armchair edges allowing for centrosymmetric stacking, whereas zigzag edges lead to the growth of noncentrosymmetric BN polytypes. Our results indicate pathways to grow homoepitaxial BN with tunable layer stacking, which is required to induce piezoelectricity or ferroelectricity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Binder
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Mateusz Tokarczyk
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Adrien Rousseau
- Laboratoire
Charles Coulomb, UMR 5221, CNRS-Université
de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France
| | - Pierre Valvin
- Laboratoire
Charles Coulomb, UMR 5221, CNRS-Université
de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France
| | - Rafal Bozek
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Karol Nogajewski
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Kowalski
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Pacuski
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bernard Gil
- Laboratoire
Charles Coulomb, UMR 5221, CNRS-Université
de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France
| | - Guillaume Cassabois
- Laboratoire
Charles Coulomb, UMR 5221, CNRS-Université
de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France
- Institut
Universitaire de France, 75231 Paris, France
| | - Roman Stepniewski
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrzej Wysmolek
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
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Shima K, Cheng TS, Mellor CJ, Beton PH, Elias C, Valvin P, Gil B, Cassabois G, Novikov SV, Chichibu SF. Cathodoluminescence spectroscopy of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride. Sci Rep 2024; 14:169. [PMID: 38167439 PMCID: PMC10762211 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50502-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy is a suitable technique for studying the luminescent properties of optoelectronic materials because CL has no limitation on the excitable bandgap energy and eliminates ambiguous signals due to simple light scattering and resonant Raman scattering potentially involved in the photoluminescence spectra. However, direct CL measurements of atomically thin two-dimensional materials have been difficult due to the small excitation volume that interacts with high-energy electron beams. Herein, distinct CL signals from a monolayer hexagonal BN (hBN), namely mBN, epitaxial film grown on a graphite substrate are shown by using a CL system capable of large-area and surface-sensitive excitation. Spatially resolved CL spectra at 13 K exhibited a predominant 5.5-eV emission band, which has been ascribed to originate from multilayered aggregates of hBN, markedly at thicker areas formed on the step edges of the substrate. Conversely, a faint peak at 6.04 ± 0.01 eV was routinely observed from atomically flat areas, which is assigned as being due to the recombination of phonon-assisted direct excitons of mBN. The CL results support the transition from indirect bandgap in bulk hBN to direct bandgap in mBN. The results also encourage one to elucidate emission properties of other low-dimensional materials by using the present CL configuration.
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Grants
- Crossover Alliance to Create the Future with People, Intelligence, and Materials Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan
- Crossover Alliance to Create the Future with People, Intelligence, and Materials Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan
- EP/K040243/1 The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK
- EP/P019080/1 The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK
- EP/V05323X/1 The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohei Shima
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan.
| | - Tin S Cheng
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Christopher J Mellor
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Peter H Beton
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Christine Elias
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR5221 CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | - Pierre Valvin
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR5221 CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | - Bernard Gil
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR5221 CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | - Guillaume Cassabois
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR5221 CNRS, Université de Montpellier, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | - Sergei V Novikov
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Shigefusa F Chichibu
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan.
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Zanfrognini M, Plaud A, Stenger I, Fossard F, Sponza L, Schué L, Paleari F, Molinari E, Varsano D, Wirtz L, Ducastelle F, Loiseau A, Barjon J. Distinguishing Different Stackings in Layered Materials via Luminescence Spectroscopy. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023; 131:206902. [PMID: 38039447 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.131.206902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Despite its simple crystal structure, layered boron nitride features a surprisingly complex variety of phonon-assisted luminescence peaks. We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on ultraviolet-light emission in hexagonal and rhombohedral bulk boron nitride crystals. Emission spectra of high-quality samples are measured via cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, displaying characteristic differences between the two polytypes. These differences are explained using a fully first-principles computational technique that takes into account radiative emission from "indirect," finite-momentum excitons via coupling to finite-momentum phonons. We show that the differences in peak positions, number of peaks, and relative intensities can be qualitatively and quantitatively explained, once a full integration over all relevant momenta of excitons and phonons is performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Zanfrognini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, I-41125 Modena, Italy
- Centro S3, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, I-41125 Modena, Italy
| | - Alexandre Plaud
- Université Paris-Saclay, ONERA, CNRS, Laboratoire d'étude des microstructures, 92322 Châtillon, France
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, CNRS, GEMaC, 78000 Versailles, France
| | - Ingrid Stenger
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, CNRS, GEMaC, 78000 Versailles, France
| | - Frédéric Fossard
- Université Paris-Saclay, ONERA, CNRS, Laboratoire d'étude des microstructures, 92322 Châtillon, France
| | - Lorenzo Sponza
- Université Paris-Saclay, ONERA, CNRS, Laboratoire d'étude des microstructures, 92322 Châtillon, France
| | - Léonard Schué
- Université Paris-Saclay, ONERA, CNRS, Laboratoire d'étude des microstructures, 92322 Châtillon, France
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, CNRS, GEMaC, 78000 Versailles, France
| | - Fulvio Paleari
- Centro S3, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, I-41125 Modena, Italy
| | - Elisa Molinari
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, I-41125 Modena, Italy
- Centro S3, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, I-41125 Modena, Italy
| | | | - Ludger Wirtz
- Department of Physics and Materials Science, University of Luxembourg, 1511 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - François Ducastelle
- Université Paris-Saclay, ONERA, CNRS, Laboratoire d'étude des microstructures, 92322 Châtillon, France
| | - Annick Loiseau
- Université Paris-Saclay, ONERA, CNRS, Laboratoire d'étude des microstructures, 92322 Châtillon, France
| | - Julien Barjon
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, CNRS, GEMaC, 78000 Versailles, France
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