Controllable co-segregation synthesis of wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride thin films

A facile and scalable co-segregation method is used to grow hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin films from B- and N-containing metals. By annealing the sandwiched metal substrates in vacuum, sub-monolayer h-BN flakes, monolayer h-BN films, and multilayer h-BN thin films of varying thickness are successfully prepared. This approach follows an underneath-growth mode and exhibits good thickness- and location-control.