Carbon-rich hexagonal (BN)C alloys

Thin films of hexagonal boron nitride carbon, h-(BN)1 x(C2)x, alloys in the C-rich side have been synthesized by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on c-plane sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed single hexagonal phase of h-(BN)1 x(C2)x epilayers. Electrical transport and Raman spectroscopy measurements results revealed evidences that homogenous h-(BN)1 x(C2)x alloys with x 95% can be synthesized by MOCVD at a growth temperature of 1300 C. The variable temperature Hall-effect measurements suggested that a bandgap opening of about 93 meV with respect to graphite has been obtained for h-(BN)1 x(C2)x with x1⁄4 0.95, which is consistent with the expected value deduced from the alloy dependence of the energy gap of homogenous h-(BN)1 x(C2)x alloys. Atomic composition results obtained from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements revealed that the carrier type in C-rich h-(BN)1 x(C2)x alloys is controlled by the stoichiometry ratio between the B and N via changing the V/III ratio during the growth. The demonstration of bandgap opening and conductivity control in C-rich h-(BN)1 x(C2)x alloys provide feasibilities for realizing technologically significant devices including infrared (IR) emitters and detectors active from near to far IR and multi-spectral IR emitters and detectors. VC 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4921931]