Reversible Modification of the Structural and Electronic Properties of a Boron Nitride Monolayer by CO Intercalation

Summary, in English

We demonstrate the reversible intercalation of CO between a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer and a Rh(111) substrate above a threshold CO pressure of 0.01 mbar at room temperature. The intercalation of CO results in the flattening of the originally corrugated h-BN nanomesh and an electronic decoupling of the BN layer from the Rh substrate. The intercalated CO molecules assume a coverage and adsorption site distribution comparable to that on the free Rh(111) surface at similar conditions. The pristine h-BN nanomesh is reinstated upon heating to above 625 K. These observations may open up opportunities for a reversible tuning of the electronic and structural properties of monolayer BN films.

• Author: May Ling Ng; Andrey Shavorskiy; Christoph Rameshan; Anders Mikkelsen; Edvin Lundgren; Alexei Preobrajenski; Hendrik Bluhm
• Department/s: Synchrotron Radiation Research; MAX IV Laboratory; NanoLund: Centre for Nanoscience
• Publishing year: 2015
• Language: English
• Pages: 923-927
• Publication/Series: ChemPhysChem
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 5
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201500031
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
• Topic: Physical Sciences; Natural Sciences; Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
• Keywords: boron nitride; CO; electronic properties; intercalation; monolayers
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1439-7641