title: Reversible modification of the structural and electronic properties of a boron nitride monolayer by CO intercalation.
abstract: We demonstrate the reversible intercalation of CO between a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer and a Rh(111) substrate above a threshold CO pressure of 0.01 mbar at room temperature. The intercalation of CO results in the flattening of the originally corrugated h-BN nanomesh and an electronic decoupling of the BN layer from the Rh substrate. The intercalated CO molecules assume a coverage and adsorption site distribution comparable to that on the free Rh(111) surface at similar conditions. The pristine h-BN nanomesh is reinstated upon heating to above 625 K. These observations may open up opportunities for a reversible tuning of the electronic and structural properties of monolayer BN films.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA). mlng@slac.stanford.edu.
authors.forename: May Ling
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shavorskiy
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rameshan
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mikkelsen
authors.forename: Edvin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lundgren
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Preobrajenski
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bluhm
keywords: CO; boron nitride; electronic properties; intercalation; monolayers