title: Structure and Growth of Hexagonal Boron Nitride on Ir(111).
abstract: Using the X-ray standing wave method, scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction, and density functional theory, we precisely determine the lateral and vertical structure of hexagonal boron nitride on Ir(111). The moiré superstructure leads to a periodic arrangement of strongly chemisorbed valleys in an otherwise rather flat, weakly physisorbed plane. The best commensurate approximation of the moiré unit cell is (12 × 12) boron nitride cells resting on (11 × 11) substrate cells, which is at variance with several earlier studies. We uncover the existence of two fundamentally different mechanisms of layer formation for hexagonal boron nitride, namely, nucleation and growth as opposed to network formation without nucleation. The different pathways are linked to different distributions of rotational domains, and the latter enables selection of a single orientation only.
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Ferdinand H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Farwick Zum Hagen
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Domenik M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.|Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster , Wilhelm-Klemm-Straße 10, 48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Caio C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Diamond Light Source , Didcot OX11 0DE, U.K.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlueter
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicolae
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Atodiresei
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jolie
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Antonio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Martínez-Galera
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.|Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster , Wilhelm-Klemm-Straße 10, 48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dombrowski
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrike A
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Will
authors.affiliation: Institut Ruđer Bošković , Bijenička 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Predrag
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lazić
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Vasile
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caciuc
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blügel
authors.affiliation: Diamond Light Source , Didcot OX11 0DE, U.K.
authors.forename: Tien-Lin
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michely
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Köln, Germany.|Institut für Materialphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster , Wilhelm-Klemm-Straße 10, 48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5522-0578
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Busse
keywords: Ir(111); X-ray standing waves; epitaxial growth; graphene; hexagonal boron nitride; moiré; scanning tunneling microscopy