Growth and Applications of Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has gathered significant interest due to its exceptional chemical stability, high thermal conductivity, and its broad potential for applications in deep-UV optoelectronics and van der Waals heterostructures. However, a major challenge for the industrial use of h-BN and other 2D materials is the ability to produce large-area, high-quality layers.

In the first part of my presentation, I will address this challenge and present results on the growth of epitaxial h-BN on sapphire using metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) [1-5], a method currently considered one of the most promising for high-quality growth.

The second part will focus on the general properties of h-BN, with particular attention to the characteristics of our epitaxial h-BN, including detailed characterization and a discussion of its properties.

Finally, I will explore the diverse applications of our MOVPE-grown h-BN, ranging from the large-area fabrication of van der Waals heterostructures [6,7] and the study of spin defects and single-photon emitters [8,9], to photonic applications such as the development of Bragg reflectors [9], and its potential in hydrogen generation and storage applications [1].

 

[1] J. Binder et al. Nano Letters 23, 1267−1272 (2023)

[2] M. Tokarczyk et. Al. 2D Materials 10, 025010 (2023)

[3] K. P. Korona et al. Nanoscale 15, 9864 (2023)

[4] A. K. Dabrowska et al. 2D Materials 8, 015017 (2021)

[5] J. Binder et al. Nano Letters 24, 6990-6996 (2024)

[6] K. Ludwiczak et al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 47904 (2021)

[7] K. Ludwiczak et al. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 16 , 49701

(2024)

[8] M. Koperski et al. Scientific Reports 11:15506 (2021)

[9] A. Dabrowska et al. Journal of Luminescence 269, 120486 (2024)

[10] A. Ciesielski et al. Nanotechnology 35, 055202 (2023)