TY - JOUR
T1 - Area-selective Electron-beam induced deposition of Amorphous-BNx on graphene
AU - Boix, Virgínia
AU - Struzzi, Claudia
AU - Gallo, Tamires
AU - Johansson, Niclas
AU - D'acunto, Giulio
AU - Yong, Zhihua
AU - Zakharov, Alexei
AU - Li, Zheshen
AU - Schnadt, Joachim
AU - Mikkelsen, Anders
AU - Knudsen, Jan
PY - 2021/8/1
Y1 - 2021/8/1
N2 - Thin, stable and inert dielectric spacers are essential for manufacturing electronic devices based on 2D materials. However, direct synthesis on top of 2D materials is difficult due to their inert nature. In this work, we studied how an electron beam induces fragmentation of borazine and enables spatially confined synthesis of amorphous-BNx on graphene at room temperature. Using a combination of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Low Energy Electron Microscopy, and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy we studied the morphology of the heterostructure, its chemical composition, and finally its temperature evolution. We find that electron-beam induced deposition starts by the binding of heavily fragmentized borazine, including atomic boron, followed by the growth of a multilayer with a 1:0.7 B:N ratio. The final structure exhibits a thermal stability up to 1400 K and ~ 50 nm spatial control provided by the electron beam. Our studies provide surface science insight into the use of electron beams for synthesis and lateral control of stable and inert layers in 2D heterostructures.
AB - Thin, stable and inert dielectric spacers are essential for manufacturing electronic devices based on 2D materials. However, direct synthesis on top of 2D materials is difficult due to their inert nature. In this work, we studied how an electron beam induces fragmentation of borazine and enables spatially confined synthesis of amorphous-BNx on graphene at room temperature. Using a combination of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Low Energy Electron Microscopy, and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy we studied the morphology of the heterostructure, its chemical composition, and finally its temperature evolution. We find that electron-beam induced deposition starts by the binding of heavily fragmentized borazine, including atomic boron, followed by the growth of a multilayer with a 1:0.7 B:N ratio. The final structure exhibits a thermal stability up to 1400 K and ~ 50 nm spatial control provided by the electron beam. Our studies provide surface science insight into the use of electron beams for synthesis and lateral control of stable and inert layers in 2D heterostructures.
KW - Amorphous Boron Nitride
KW - Electron-Beam Induced Deposition
KW - Graphene
KW - LEEM
KW - STM
KW - XPS
U2 - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149806
DO - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149806
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105693615
VL - 557
SP - 149806
JO - Applied Surface Science
JF - Applied Surface Science
SN - 1873-5584
ER -