title: Opening of triangular hole in triangular-shaped chemical vapor deposited hexagonal boron nitride crystal.
abstract: In-plane heterostructure of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and graphene is of great interest for its tunable bandgap and other unique properties. Here, we reveal a H2-induced etching process to introduce triangular hole in triangular-shaped chemical vapor deposited individual h-BN crystal. In this study, we synthesized regular triangular-shaped h-BN crystals with the sizes around 2-10 μm on Cu foil by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The etching behavior of individual h-BN crystal was investigated by annealing at different temperature in an H2:Ar atmosphere. Annealing at 900 °C, etching of h-BN was observed from crystal edges with no visible etching at the center of individual crystals. While, annealing at a temperature ≥ 950 °C, highly anisotropic etching was observed, where the etched areas were equilateral triangle-shaped with same orientation as that of original h-BN crystal. The etching process and well-defined triangular hole formation can be significant platform to fabricate planar heterostructure with graphene or other two-dimensional (2D) materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Subash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan [2] Center for Fostering Young and Innovative Researchers, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Golap
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kalita
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Riteshkumar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vishwakarma
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Zurita
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zulkifli
authors.affiliation: Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanemura