In situ GID and XRR characterization of 2D GaN growth on liquid gallium alloys

Liquid metal catalysts (LMCats) are a promising platform for the synthesis and growth of large, defect-free and highly crystalline two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. More recently, a larger range of 2D materials have been produced this way, including GaN, which is of high interest for applications in nanoelectronics. With the proposed experiments, we aim at investigating the structure of 2D GaN crystals during their growth on liquid gallium alloys. The in-plane lattice constant, crystallite size and strains of the 2D GaN crystals will be tracked in situ using GID and their thickness, roughness and distance from the substrate using XRR. These experiments will enable to unravel the growth mechanism of 2D GaN on the surface of liquid metals and determine optimized conditions for their growth.