Growth of aligned and twisted hexagonal boron nitride on Ir(110)

TL;DR

This study investigates the growth conditions and structural properties of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride on Ir(110), revealing temperature-dependent alignment and a novel reconstruction pattern, with implications for surface engineering.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the growth conditions, structural reconstructions, and moiré patterns of h-BN on Ir(110), introducing a methodology for precise moiré periodicity determination.

Findings

Aligned h-BN requires 1500 K growth temperature.

Lower temperatures lead to coexistence of aligned and twisted h-BN.

Formation of a (1 × n) reconstruction with registry to moiré pattern.

Abstract

The growth of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on Ir(110) through low-pressure chemical vapor deposition is investigated using low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. We find that the growth of aligned single hexagonal boron nitride on Ir(110) requires a growth temperature of 1500 K, whereas lower growth temperatures result in coexistence of aligned h-BN with twisted h-BN The presence of the h-BN overlayer suppresses the formation of the nano-faceted ridge pattern known from clean Ir(110). Instead, we observe the formation of a (1 $\times$ n) reconstruction, with n such that the missing rows are in registry with the h-BN/Ir(110) moir\'{e} pattern. Our moir\'{e} analysis showcases a precise methodology for determining both the moir\'{e} periodicity and the h-BN lattice parameter on an fcc(110) surface.