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Identifying hexagonal boron nitride monolayers by transmission electron microscopy.

Michael L Odlyzko¹, K Andre Mkhoyan

¹Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.

Microscopy and Microanalysis : the Official Journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada

|May 30, 2012

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Multislice simulations reveal that tilting hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) samples in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) allows for monolayer identification. Annular-dark-field scanning TEM (ADF-STEM) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) are stable with tilt, unlike bright-field TEM (BF-CTEM).

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Nanotechnology

Background:

Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a crucial material in advanced electronics and photonics.
Distinguishing between monolayer and multilayer h-BN is essential for device performance and characterization.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques are vital for analyzing nanomaterials.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effect of sample tilting on imaging contrast in TEM for atomically thin h-BN.
To determine if specific TEM imaging modes can reliably differentiate between monolayer and multilayer h-BN.
To assess the utility of tilt series analysis for h-BN characterization.

Main Methods:

Multislice simulations were performed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM).

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Simulations examined changes in annular-dark-field scanning TEM (ADF-STEM), bright-field TEM (BF-CTEM) images, and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns.

Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) samples were tilted up to 500 mrad off the [0001] zone axis.

Main Results:

Monolayer h-BN exhibited stable contrast in ADF-STEM images and SAED patterns across the tested tilt range.
BF-CTEM image contrast of monolayer h-BN changed significantly with sample tilt.
Contrast in h-BN multilayer samples varied considerably with tilt in all simulated imaging modes (ADF-STEM, BF-CTEM, SAED).

Conclusions:

Tilt series analysis using ADF-STEM imaging or SAED mode can reliably identify h-BN monolayers from TEM data.
These findings offer a robust method for distinguishing h-BN layers without complex post-processing.
The differential tilt response provides a clear signature for monolayer h-BN characterization.