title: Strong Adlayer-Substrate Interactions "Break" the Patching Growth of h-BN onto Graphene on Re(0001).
abstract: Hetero-epitaxial growth of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) from the edges of graphene domains or vice versa has been widely observed during synthesis of in-plane heterostructures of h-BN-G on Rh(111), Ir(111), and even Cu foil. We report that on a strongly coupled Re(0001) substrate via a similar two-step sequential growth strategy, h-BN preferably nucleated on the edges of Re(0001) steps rather than on the edges of existing graphene domains. Statistically, one-third of the domain boundaries of graphene and h-BN were patched seamlessly, and the others were characterized by obvious "defect lines" when the total coverage approached a full monolayer. This imperfect merging behavior can be explained by translational misalignment and lattice mismatch of the resulting separated component domains. According to density functional theory calculations, this coexisting patching and non-patching growth behavior was radically mediated by the strong adlayer-substrate (A-S) interactions, as well as the disparate formation energies of the attachment of B-N pairs or B-N lines along the edges of the Re(0001) steps versus the graphene domains. This work will be of fundamental significance for the controllable synthesis of in-plane heterostructures constructed from two-dimensional layered materials with consideration of A-S interactions.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams, Dalian University of Technology, Ministry of Education , Dalian 116024, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Nannan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuanchang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhepeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiebo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiucheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mengxi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams, Dalian University of Technology, Ministry of Education , Dalian 116024, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jijun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhongfan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0065-7988
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: edges of Re steps and graphene domains; graphene and hexagonal boron nitride heterostructures; preferable nucleation; ultra-high-vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy