Optimization for growth condition of ultrathin hexagonal boron nitride on dielectric substrates via LPCVD
Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) is a highly intriguing candidate for heterostructure optoelectronic applications, such as Deep Ultraviolet photodetectors, UV sensing and communication systems and solar cells. This is primarily due to its unique properties, including a layer dependent wide energy bandgap, superior mechanical strength, high thermal conductivity, high band-edge absorption coefficient, and exceptional transparency in the UV region. The widely adopted synthesis method for h-BN thin films is Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Method, which often utilizes catalytic substrates like copper (Cu) and Nickel (Ni). However, integrating the synthesized h-BN into device applications requires a subsequent transfer process to the target substrate. This transfer step introduces significant material damage, such as folding, cracking and polymer residues, which ultimately degrade the optoelectronic properties of the material and compromise device performance. To overcome this major challenge, there is a strong need to synthesize high-quality h-BN films directly onto dielectric substrates such as silicon (Si), SiO2, quartz, sapphire or AlN without the need for transfer. The primary difficulty in direct synthesis lies in achieving homogenous, high crystallinity films with controllable thickness due to the absence of a catalytic effect. In this work, we investigated the optimization of growth parameters for the direct synthesis of ultrathin h-BN films on non-catalytic quartz substrates, which are highly transparent in the UV region, using the Low-pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) method. The optimal synthesis conditions were determined to be 1050oC for 60 min, achieved by the decomposition of 150 mg Ammonia Borane (AB) precursor at 80oC. This optimization is crucial for advancing large-scale, high-performance h-BN based DUV photodetector fabrication.