Band Gap Engineering of Chemical Vapor Deposited Graphene byin SituBN Doping

Abstract

Band gap opening and engineering is one of the high priority goals in the development of graphene electronics. Here, we report on the opening and scaling of band gap in BN doped graphene (BNG) films grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition method. High resolution transmission electron microscopy is employed to resolve the graphene and h-BN domain formation in great detail. X-ray photoelectron, micro-Raman, and UV-vis spectroscopy studies revealed a distinct structural and phase evolution in BNG films at low BN concentration. Synchrotron radiation based XAS-XES measurements concluded a gap opening in BNG films, which is also confirmed by field effect transistor measurements. For the first time, a significant band gap as high as 600 meV is observed for low BN concentrations and is attributed to the opening of the π-π* band gap of graphene due to isoelectronic BN doping. As-grown films exhibit structural evolution from homogeneously dispersed small BN clusters to large sized BN domains with embedded diminutive graphene domains. The evolution is described in terms of competitive growth among h-BN and graphene domains with increasing BN concentration. The present results pave way for the development of band gap engineered BN doped graphene-based devices.

Direct chemical conversion of graphene to boron- and nitrogen- and carbon-containing atomic layers

“…7f and Supplementary Note 1). Similar optical bandgap has also been found previously in heterogeneous h-BN/graphene film grown by using the CVD method 33 . These results suggest that our h-BNC film undergoes a change in morphology from spatially well-dispersed phase into in-plane hybrid structures rich in BN domains as the BN concentration increases, qualitatively consistent with our theoretical models.…”

Inducing a Finite In-Plane Piezoelectricity in Graphene with Low Concentration of Inversion Symmetry-Breaking Defects

“…[24][25][26] Among these strategies, chemical doping seems the most promising as it already represents an effective experimental mean for tuning structural and electronic properties (such as band gap and work function) of graphene. 24,25,[27][28][29] Boron nitride (BN) chemical doping of graphene has recently been successfully achieved in different configurations and concentrations: semiconducting atomic layers of hybrid h-BN and graphene domains have been synthesized, 27 low-pressure chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) synthesis of large-area few-layer BN doped graphene (BNG) has been presented, leading to BN concentrations as high as 10%; the BN content in BNG layers has been discussed to be related to the heating temperature of the precursor, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. 28 The synthesis of a quasi-freestanding BNG monolayer heterostructure, with preferred zigzag type boundary, on a weakly coupled Ir-surface has also been recently reported.…”

“…24,25,[27][28][29] Boron nitride (BN) chemical doping of graphene has recently been successfully achieved in different configurations and concentrations: semiconducting atomic layers of hybrid h-BN and graphene domains have been synthesized, 27 low-pressure chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) synthesis of large-area few-layer BN doped graphene (BNG) has been presented, leading to BN concentrations as high as 10%; the BN content in BNG layers has been discussed to be related to the heating temperature of the precursor, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. 28 The synthesis of a quasi-freestanding BNG monolayer heterostructure, with preferred zigzag type boundary, on a weakly coupled Ir-surface has also been recently reported. 29 In this study we apply ab initio quantum-mechanical simulations and show how, by doping graphene with BN inclusions arranged according to different patterns and exploring different substitutional fractions x, a piezoelectricity can be induced in 2D graphene which is found to be 3 to 4 times larger than pure 2D BN monolayer and one order of magnitude larger than previously reported on graphene.…”

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

“…Graphene/ h ‐BN monolayer in‐plane heterostructure, formed by merging the two materials into a single atomic layer, has attracted considerable attentions owing to its promising electronic applications. It has been both theoretically predicted and experimentally verified that the band gap can be opened and tuned by embedding h ‐BN domains in graphene layer 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Some electronic applications were demonstrated based on patterned graphene/ h ‐BN in‐plane heterostructures 9, 10.…”