Synthesis of centimeter-scale high-quality polycrystalline hexagonal boron nitride films from Fe fluxes

Abstract

High-quality hexagonal BN (hBN) crystals, owing to their irreplaceable roles in new functional devices such as universal substrates and excellent layered insulators are exceedingly required in the field of two-dimensional (2D) materials. Although large-scale monolayer hBN crystals have been successfully grown on catalytic metals, the synthesis of large-area continuous hBN films with thickness in microns is challenging, hindering their applications at the mesoscopic level. Herein, we report the single-metal flux growth of centimeter-large, micron-thick, and high-quality continuous hBN films by balancing the grain size and coverage. The as-grown films can be readily exfoliated and transferred onto arbitrary substrates. Isotopically engineered hBN crystals can be obtained as well by the method. The narrow Raman line widths of the intralayer E_2g mode peak (2.9 cm⁻¹ for h¹¹BN, 3.3 cm⁻¹ for h¹⁰BN, and 7.9 cm⁻¹ for h^NaBN) and ultrahigh thermal conductivity (830 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ for 4L h¹¹BN) demonstrate high crystal quality and low defect density. Our results provide the foundation for the cost-efficient and lab-achievable synthesis of high-quality hBN films aimed at its mesoscopic applications.