Synthesis of High‐Quality Graphene and Hexagonal Boron Nitride Monolayer In‐Plane Heterostructure on Cu–Ni Alloy

• Published in: Advanced science 2017-09, Vol.4 (9), p.1700076-n/a
• Main Authors: Lu, Guangyuan, Wu, Tianru, Yang, Peng, Yang, Yingchao, Jin, Zehua, Chen, Weibing, Jia, Shuai, Wang, Haomin, Zhang, Guanhua, Sun, Julong, Ajayan, Pulickel M., Lou, Jun, Xie, Xiaoming, Jiang, Mianheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: chemical vapor deposition; Communication; Communications; Cu–Ni alloy; graphene and h‐BN in‐plane heterostructures; high quality
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.201700076

Graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) monolayer in‐plane heterostructure offers a novel material platform for both fundamental research and device applications. To obtain such a heterostructure in high quality via controllable synthetic approaches is still challenging. In this work, in‐plane epitaxy of graphene/h‐BN heterostructure is demonstrated on Cu–Ni substrates. The introduction of nickel to copper substrate not only enhances the capability of decomposing polyaminoborane residues but also promotes graphene growth via isothermal segregation. On the alloy surface partially covered by h‐BN, graphene is found to nucleate at the corners of the as‐formed h‐BN grains, and the high growth rate for graphene minimizes the damage of graphene‐growth process on h‐BN lattice. As a result, high‐quality graphene/h‐BN in‐plane heterostructure with epitaxial relationship can be formed, which is supported by extensive characterizations. Photodetector device applications are demonstrated based on the in‐plane heterostructure. The success will have important impact on future research and applications based on this unique material platform. High‐quality monolayer graphene/h‐BN in‐plane heterostructure is synthesized on rationally designed catalytic Cu85Ni15 substrate via chemical vapor deposition method. Graphene is found to nucleate only at the corners of the as‐deposited triangular h‐BN grains and it follows the lattice orientation of h‐BN. The heterostructure offers a unique material platform for fundamental research and device applications.