Argonne National Laboratory

Research Highlight | Center for Nanoscale Materials

Islands of borophene precipitate from a sea of gold
In a recent study published in ACS Nano, researchers found that spectroscopic measurements reveal that borophene grown on Au(111) possesses a metallic electronic structure.
(a) STM image of a clean Au(111) surface that shows the herringbone reconstruction (V = −1.5 V, I = 100 pA). (b) Following boron deposition at 550 °C, the herringbone reconstruction is modified to a trigonal network, where nanoscale borophene islands (one highlighted by a white dashed line) emerge at the nodes resulting in templated growth across the surface (V = −0.1 V, I = 200 pA).

Scientific Achievement

Borophene, a 2D allotrope of boron recently discovered at the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), was synthesized for the first time on a Au(111) surface and characterized using ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Significance and Impact

Expanding the synthesis of boron to other substrates increases the versatility of borophene and furthers understanding of growth dynamics that impacts the field of 2D materials. Borophene exhibits the same two predominate growth modes as its more popular cousin, graphene. 

Research Details

  • Boron dissolves into the Au(111) substrate at high temperatures and then segregates into borophene sheets at the surface during cooling. UHV STM was performed at CNM.

Work was performed in part at the Center for Nanoscale Materials.

DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b09339

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About Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials
The Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE’s Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit https://​sci​ence​.osti​.gov/​U​s​e​r​-​F​a​c​i​l​i​t​i​e​s​/​U​s​e​r​-​F​a​c​i​l​i​t​i​e​s​-​a​t​-​a​-​G​lance.

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