Impact of Copper Overpressure on the Synthesis of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Atomic Layers

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) atomic layers are synthesized on polycrystalline copper foils via a novel chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process that maintains a vapor-phase copper overpressure during growth. Compared to h-BN films grown without a copper overpressure, this process results in a >10× reduction of 3-dimensional BN fullerene-like surface features, a reduction of carbon and oxygen contamination of 65% and 62%, respectively, an increase in h-BN grain size of >2×, and an 89% increase in electrical breakdown strength.