Boron Nitride on Cu(111): An Electronically Corrugated Monolayer

• Published in: Nano letters 2012-11, Vol.12 (11), p.5821-5828
• Main Authors: Joshi, Sushobhan, Ecija, David, Koitz, Ralph, Iannuzzi, Marcella, Seitsonen, Ari P, Hutter, Jürg, Sachdev, Hermann, Vijayaraghavan, Saranyan, Bischoff, Felix, Seufert, Knud, Barth, Johannes V, Auwärter, Willi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; BORON NITRIDE; CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION; Chemical vapor deposition (including plasma-enhanced cvd, mocvd, etc.); Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Copper; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; DEPOSITION; ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fullerenes and related materials; diamonds, graphite; Graphene; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; MICROSTRUCTURES; Molecular electronics, nanoelectronics; Monolayers; Nanostructure; NITRIDES; Physics; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Spacers; Specific materials; Surface double layers, schottky barriers, and work functions; THIN FILMS; VAPOR DEPOSITION
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl303170m

Ultrathin films of boron nitride (BN) have recently attracted considerable interest given their successful incorporation in graphene nanodevices and their use as spacer layers to electronically decouple and order functional adsorbates. Here, we introduce a BN monolayer grown by chemical vapor deposition of borazine on a single crystal Cu support, representing a model system for an electronically patterned but topographically smooth substrate. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy experiments evidence a weak bonding of the single BN sheet to Cu, preserving the insulating character of bulk hexagonal boron nitride, combined with a periodic lateral variation of the local work function and the surface potential. Complementary density functional theory calculations reveal a varying registry of the BN relative to the Cu lattice as origin of this electronic Moiré-like superstructure.