title: Atomically thin layers of B-N-C-O with tunable composition.
abstract: In recent times, atomically thin alloys of boron, nitrogen, and carbon have generated significant excitement as a composition-tunable two-dimensional (2D) material that demonstrates rich physics as well as application potentials. The possibility of tunably incorporating oxygen, a group VI element, into the honeycomb sp(2)-type 2D-BNC lattice is an intriguing idea from both fundamental and applied perspectives. We present the first report on an atomically thin quaternary alloy of boron, nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen (2D-BNCO). Our experiments suggest, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations corroborate, stable configurations of a honeycomb 2D-BNCO lattice. We observe micrometer-scale 2D-BNCO domains within a graphene-rich 2D-BNC matrix, and are able to control the area coverage and relative composition of these domains by varying the oxygen content in the growth setup. Macroscopic samples comprising 2D-BNCO domains in a graphene-rich 2D-BNC matrix show graphene-like gate-modulated electronic transport with mobility exceeding 500 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), and Arrhenius-like activated temperature dependence. Spin-polarized DFT calculations for nanoscale 2D-BNCO patches predict magnetic ground states originating from the B atoms closest to the O atoms and sizable (0.6 eV < E g < 0.8 eV) band gaps in their density of states. These results suggest that 2D-BNCO with novel electronic and magnetic properties have great potential for nanoelectronics and spintronic applications in an atomically thin platform.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Electronic Materials Research Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA.
authors.forename: Birol
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Cinvestav Unidad Querétaro, Querétaro, Qro. 76230, Mexico.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de-Luna-Bugallo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Eugen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Panaitescu
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
authors.forename: Ann N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Chiaramonti
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Fangze
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, USA.
authors.forename: Xueping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Neerav
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kharche
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI 53190, USA.
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yavuzcetin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Majed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alnaji
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lok
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Yongyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Night Visions Electronic Sensors Directorate, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060, USA.
authors.forename: Nibir K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Dhar
authors.affiliation: Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA.
authors.forename: Madan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751013, India.
authors.forename: Saroj K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; Electronic Materials Research Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Srinivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sridhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ; George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, Northeastern University, Burlington, MA 01803, USA.
authors.forename: Swastik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kar
keywords: alloy; atomically thin sheets; boron; graphene; magnetism; nitrogen; oxygen; two dimensional