@article{Wei2020, 
author = {Wei Wei and Jiaqi Pan and Chanan Euaruksakul and Yang Yang and Yi Cui and Qiang Fu and Xinhe Bao},
title = {Dynamic observation of in-plane h-BN/graphene heterostructures growth on Ni(111)},
year = {2020},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {13},
number = {7},
pages = {1789-1794},
keywords = {graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), in-plane heterostructures, growth dynamics},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.1007/s12274-020-2638-7},
doi = {10.1007/s12274-020-2638-7},
abstract = {The lateral incorporation of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) onto a substrate surface creates in-plane h-BN/graphene heterostructures, which have promising applications in novel two-dimensional electronic and photoelectronic devices. The quality of h-BN/graphene domain boundaries depends on their orientation, which is crucial for device performances. Here, the heteroepitaxial growth of graphene along the edges of h-BN domains on Ni(111) surfaces as well as the growth dynamics of h-BN using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are in situ investigated by surface imaging measurements. The nucleating seed effect of h-BN has been revealed, which contributes to the single orientation of heterostructures with epitaxial stitching. Further, the growth of h-BN prior to that of graphene is essential to obtain high-quality in-plane h-BN/graphene heterostructures on Ni(111). The "compact to fractal" shape transition of h-BN domains appears with the increasing surface concentration of the growth blocks, suggesting that the dynamic growth mechanism follows diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) but not reaction-limited aggregation (RLA). Our results provide insights into the synthesis of well-defined h-BN/graphene heterostructures and deep understanding of the growth dynamics of h-BN on metal surfaces.}
}