Philipp Irschik | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Competition between vacancy creation and filling in defect-engineering of hBN

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has recently become the focus of intense research as a material that can host quantum emitters. It is known that such emission is related to point defects, but in order to conclusively correlate specific defects to their spectra, having control over the defect creation mechanism is required. Here, we prepare freestanding, monolayer hBN samples and irradiate them with ultra-low-energy (150 eV) Ar+ ions. The samples are characterized before and after irradiation via scanning transmission electron microscopy to assess the defect density and distribution. Contrary to what analytical potential molecular dynamics simulations have predicted, we predominantly observe boron single vacancies after ion irradiation, followed by double vacancies at half the count. Moreover, we also observe that vacancy filling with Si and C impurity atoms plays a more significant role in the created defects than previously assumed, potentially posing a problem for selective creation of quantum emitters in hBN.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Atomically clean free-standing two-dimensional materials through heating in ultra-high vacuum

Surface contamination not only influences but in some cases even dominates the measured properties of two-dimensional materials. Although different cleaning methods are often used for contamination removal, commonly used spectroscopic cleanliness assessment methods can leave the level of achieved cleanliness ambiguous. Despite two decades of research on 2D materials, the true cleanliness of the used samples is often left open to interpretation. In this work, freestanding monolayer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride are annealed at different temperatures in a custom-built ultra-high vacuum heating chamber, connected to a scanning transmission electron microscope via a vacuum transfer line, enabling atomically resolved cleanliness characterization as a function of annealing temperature, while eliminating the introduction of airborne contamination during sample transport. While annealing at 200 {\deg}C already reduces contamination significantly, it is not until 400 {\deg}C or higher, where over 90% of the free-standing monolayer areas are atomically clean. At this point, further contamination removal is mainly limited by defects in the material and metal contamination introduced during the sample transfer or growth. The achieved large, atomically clean areas can then be used for further nanoscale engineering steps or device processing, facilitating interaction with the material rather than contamination.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗