Controlling Bandgap of Rippled Hexagonal Boron Nitride Membranes via Plasma Treatment

Few-layer rippled hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) membranes were processed with hydrogen plasma, which exhibit distinct and pronounced changes in its electronic properties after the plasma treatment. The bandgaps of the h-BN membrane reduced from similar to 5.6 eV at 0 s to similar to 4.25 eV at 250s, which is a signature of transition from the insulating to the semiconductive regime. It typically required 250 s of plasma treatment to reach the saturation. It illustrates that two-dimensional material with engineered electronic properties can be created by attaching other atoms or molecules.