A multiscale insight into the growth of h-BN: effect of the enclosure

There is a lack of knowledge on the fundamental growth mechanisms governing the characteristics of 2D materials synthesized by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique and their correlation with experimentally controllable parameters, which hindered their wafer-scale synthesis. Here, we pursued an analytical and computational approach to access the system states that are not experimentally viable to address these critical needs. We developed a multiscale computational framework correlating the macroscale heat and mass flow with the mesoscale morphology of the as-grown 2D materials by solving the coupled system of heat/mass transfer and phase-field equations. We used hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as our model material and investigated the effect of substrate enclosure on its growth kinetics and final morphology. We revealed a lower concentration with a more uniform distribution on the substrate in an enclosed-growth than open-growth. It leads to a more uniform size distribution of the h-BN islands, consistent with existing experimental investigations.

Automated summary

The lack of understanding on the fundamental growth mechanisms of 2D materials synthesized by chemical vapor deposition technique has hindered their wafer-scale synthesis. By using an analytical and computational approach, the correlation between macroscale heat and mass flow with mesoscale morphology was investigated. Results showed that substrate enclosure led to a more uniform distribution of concentration and size of h-BN islands during growth.