Growth of Polar Hexagonal Boron Nitride Monolayer on Nonpolar Copper with Unique Orientation

A study is conducted to demonstrate hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) triangular domains grown on Cu(102) or Cu(103) through low pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) share a unique lattice orientation. One of their zigzag edges are aligned perpendicular to the symmetry axis of the Cu substrate, which can be understood in terms of the minimization of vdW energy according to the density functional theory calculations. This oriented configuration of the h-BN domains on Cu(102) and Cu(103) is in sharp contrast with that on widely studied Cu(111) and Cu(100).