Abnormal growth kinetics of h-BN epitaxial monolayer on Ru(0001) enhanced by subsurface Ar species

Growth kinetics of epitaxial films often follows the diffusion-limited aggregation mechanism, which shows a fractal-to-compact morphological transition with increasing growth temperature or decreasing deposition flux. Here, we observe an abnormal compact-to-fractal morphological transition with increasing growth temperature for hexagonal boron nitride growth on the Ru(0001) surface. The unusual growth process can be explained by a reaction-limited aggregation (RLA) mechanism. Moreover, introduction of the subsurface Ar atoms has enhanced this RLA growth behavior by decreasing both reaction and diffusion barriers. Our work may shed light on the epitaxial growth of two-dimensional atomic crystals and help to control their morphology. Published by AIP Publishing.