A hybrid MBE-based growth method for large-area synthesis of stacked hexagonal boron nitride/graphene heterostructures.

Van der Waals heterostructures combining hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and graphene offer many potential advantages, but remain difficult to produce as continuous films over large areas. In particular, the growth of h-BN on graphene has proven to be challenging due to the inertness of the graphene surface. Here we exploit a scalable molecular beam epitaxy based method to allow both the h-BN and graphene to form in a stacked heterostructure in the favorable growth environment provided by a Ni(111) substrate.

Graphene Islands on Cu foils: the interplay between shape, orientation, and defects.

We have observed the growth of monolayer graphene on Cu foils using low-energy electron microscopy. On the (100)-textured surface of the foils, four-lobed, 4-fold-symmetric islands nucleate and grow. The graphene in each of the four lobes has a different crystallographic alignment with respect to the underlying Cu substrate.