h-BN in the making: The surface chemistry of borazine on Rh(111)

Borazine is a well-established precursor molecule for the growth of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) via chemical vapor deposition on metal substrates. To understand the formation of the h-BN/Rh(111) moiré from borazine on a molecular level, we investigated the low-temperature adsorption and thermally...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of chemical physics 2024-04, Vol.160 (15)
Main Authors: Freiberger, Eva Marie, Düll, Fabian, Bachmann, Phiona, Steinhauer, Johann, Williams, Federico J., Steinrück, Hans-Peter, Papp, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Boron nitride
Chemical vapor deposition
Dehydrogenation
Fine structure
Low temperature
Multilayers
Photoelectrons
Substrates
Surface chemistry
Surface reactions
Synchrotron radiation
Two dimensional materials
X ray absorption
X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
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Summary:Borazine is a well-established precursor molecule for the growth of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) via chemical vapor deposition on metal substrates. To understand the formation of the h-BN/Rh(111) moiré from borazine on a molecular level, we investigated the low-temperature adsorption and thermally induced on-surface reaction of borazine on Rh(111) in situ using synchrotron radiation-based high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed XPS, and near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure measurements. We find that borazine adsorbs mainly as an intact molecule and have identified a flat-lying adsorption geometry. Borazine multilayers are observed to desorb below 200 K. Starting at about 300 K, dehydrogenation of the remaining borazine and borazine fragments takes place, and disordered boron nitride starts to grow. Above 600 K, the formation of the h-BN sets in. Finally, at 1100 K, the conversion to h-BN is complete. The h-BN formed by deposition and post-annealing was compared to the h-BN grown by an established procedure, proving the successful preparation of the desired two-dimensional material.
ISSN:0021-9606
1089-7690
DOI:10.1063/5.0202431