In-plane heterostructures of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride with controlled domain sizes.
Graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have similar crystal structures with a lattice constant difference of only 2%. However, graphene is a zero-bandgap semiconductor with remarkably high carrier mobility at room temperature, whereas an atomically thin layer of h-BN is a dielectric with a wide bandgap of ∼5.9 eV. Accordingly, if precise two-dimensional domains of graphene and h-BN can be seamlessly stitched together, hybrid atomic layers with interesting electronic applications could be created. Here, we show that planar graphene/h-BN heterostructures can be formed by growing graphene in lithographically patterned h-BN atomic layers. Our approach can create periodic arrangements of domains with size ranging from tens of nanometres to millimetres. The resulting graphene/h-BN atomic layers can be peeled off the growth substrate and transferred to various platforms including flexible substrates. We also show that the technique can be used to fabricate two-dimensional devices, such as a split closed-loop resonator that works as a bandpass filter.
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas                 77005, USA.
Zheng
Z
Liu
Lulu
L
Ma
Gang
G
Shi
Wu
W
Zhou
Yongji
Y
Gong
Sidong
S
Lei
Xuebei
X
Yang
Jiangnan
J
Zhang
Jingjiang
J
Yu
Ken P
KP
Hackenberg
Aydin
A
Babakhani
Juan-Carlos
JC
Idrobo
Robert
R
Vajtai
Jun
J
Lou
Pulickel M
PM
Ajayan