Direct chemical conversion of graphene to boron- and nitrogen- and carbon-containing atomic layers.
Graphene and hexagonal boron nitride are typical conductor and insulator, respectively, while their hybrids hexagonal boron carbonitride are promising as a semiconductor. Here we demonstrate a direct chemical conversion reaction, which systematically converts the hexagonal carbon lattice of graphene to boron nitride, making it possible to produce uniform boron nitride and boron carbonitride structures without disrupting the structural integrity of the original graphene templates. We synthesize high-quality atomic layer films with boron-, nitrogen- and carbon-containing atomic layers with full range of compositions. Using this approach, the electrical resistance, carrier mobilities and bandgaps of these atomic layers can be tuned from conductor to semiconductor to insulator. Combining this technique with lithography, local conversion could be realized at the nanometre scale, enabling the fabrication of in-plane atomic layer structures consisting of graphene, boron nitride and boron carbonitride. This is a step towards scalable synthesis of atomically thin two-dimensional integrated circuits.
1] Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2].
Yongji
Y
Gong
1] Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2].
Gang
G
Shi
1] Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2] State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Nano Materials and Devices of MoE, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China [3].
Zhuhua
Z
Zhang
Materials Science & Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
Wu
W
Zhou
Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78212, USA.
Jeil
J
Jung
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Weilu
W
Gao
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Lulu
L
Ma
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Yang
Y
Yang
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Shubin
S
Yang
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Ge
G
You
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Robert
R
Vajtai
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Qianfan
Q
Xu
Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78212, USA.
Allan H
AH
MacDonald
1] Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2] Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Boris I
BI
Yakobson
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Jun
J
Lou
1] Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2] School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore [3] NOVITAS, Nanoelectronics Centre of Excellence, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore [4].
Zheng
Z
Liu
1] Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA [2] Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Pulickel M
PM
Ajayan