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Title: Probing the surface oxidation process in hexagonal boron nitride epilayers

Abstract

Thermal neutron detectors based on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) epilayers have demonstrated a record high efficiency among solid-state detectors at 58%. It was found that the performance of h-BN detectors is profoundly influenced by charge recombination at the surfaces. The dynamic process of surface oxidation in h-BN epilayers has been probed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The spectra of high-resolution (0.1 eV) scans indicated that the linewidth of the B 1s peak at 190.6 eV increased and the peak intensity decreased with an increase in exposure time in-air (tair). The main B 1s peak at 190.6 eV evolved into multiple peaks at a higher binding energy position due to oxygen impurities tending to occupy nitrogen sites and form the B–O bond. Time constants of the oxidation process have been determined, revealing that the formation process of the B–O bond is very fast and within minutes in h-BN. The results suggest that reducing nitrogen vacancy generation during growth and employing surface treatment techniques would further improve the performance of h-BN devices.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
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  1. Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1801142
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1598727
Grant/Contract Number:  
NA0002927; AR000964
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
AIP Advances
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2158-3226
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Chemical vapor deposition; Neutron detectors; Semiconductors; 2D materials; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Passivation; Oxidation processes

Citation Formats

Wang, Q. W., Li, J., Lin, J. Y., and Jiang, H. X. Probing the surface oxidation process in hexagonal boron nitride epilayers. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5134993.
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Wang, Q. W., Li, J., Lin, J. Y., & Jiang, H. X. Probing the surface oxidation process in hexagonal boron nitride epilayers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5134993
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Wang, Q. W., Li, J., Lin, J. Y., and Jiang, H. X. Mon . "Probing the surface oxidation process in hexagonal boron nitride epilayers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5134993. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1801142.
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@article{osti_1801142,
title = {Probing the surface oxidation process in hexagonal boron nitride epilayers},
author = {Wang, Q. W. and Li, J. and Lin, J. Y. and Jiang, H. X.},
abstractNote = {Thermal neutron detectors based on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) epilayers have demonstrated a record high efficiency among solid-state detectors at 58%. It was found that the performance of h-BN detectors is profoundly influenced by charge recombination at the surfaces. The dynamic process of surface oxidation in h-BN epilayers has been probed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The spectra of high-resolution (0.1 eV) scans indicated that the linewidth of the B 1s peak at 190.6 eV increased and the peak intensity decreased with an increase in exposure time in-air (tair). The main B 1s peak at 190.6 eV evolved into multiple peaks at a higher binding energy position due to oxygen impurities tending to occupy nitrogen sites and form the B–O bond. Time constants of the oxidation process have been determined, revealing that the formation process of the B–O bond is very fast and within minutes in h-BN. The results suggest that reducing nitrogen vacancy generation during growth and employing surface treatment techniques would further improve the performance of h-BN devices.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5134993},
journal = {AIP Advances},
number = 2,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {2020},
month = {2}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5134993
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