Influence of oxygen on the synthesis of large area hexagonal boron nitride on Fe2B substrate

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been expected as an ideal two dimensional (2D) dielectric for practical device applications. Here we demonstrate a promising technique to achieve large area and high quality h-BN thin films on iron boride (Fe2B) substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). It was found that the remanent oxygen in reaction gas induces the oxidation of Fe2B alloy and yields low quality h-BN. Detailed characterizations prove the uniformity and high quality of as-grown h-BN thin films synthesised by gas purification process for removing oxygen. This facile method can be a scalable approach to synthesize large area and high quality h-BN thin films for future related electronic and optoelectric applications. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.