Nanoscale electronic transparency of wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride

TL;DR

This study shows that wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on Cu(111) minimally perturbs the underlying electronic states, offering a transparent, uniform insulating layer crucial for 2D heterostructure applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed nanoscale analysis demonstrating the electronic transparency and uniformity of wafer-scale hBN on Cu(111).

Findings

Cu(111) surface state remains homogeneous under hBN

Interaction features vary with Moiré pattern and atomic registry

Fragile 2D electron systems are largely unperturbed by hBN

Abstract

Monolayer hBN has attracted interest as a potentially weakly interacting 2D insulating layer in heterostructures. Recently, wafer-scale hBN growth on Cu(111) has been demonstrated for semiconductor chip fabrication processes and transistor action. For all these applications, the perturbation on the underlying electronically active layers is critical. For example, while hBN on Cu(111) has been shown to preserve the Cu(111) surface state 2D electron gas, it was previously unknown how this varies over the sample and how it is affected by local electronic corrugation. Here, we demonstrate that the Cu(111) surface state under wafer-scale hBN is robustly homogeneous in energy and spectral weight over nanometer length scales and over atomic terraces. We contrast this with a benchmark spectral feature associated with interaction between BN atoms and the Cu surface, which varies with the Moir\'e pattern of the hBN/Cu(111) sample and is dependent on atomic registry. This work demonstrates that fragile 2D electron systems and interface states are largely unperturbed by local variations created by the hBN due to atomic-scale interactions with the substrate, thus providing a remarkably transparent window on low-energy electronic structure below the hBN monolayer.