Self-assembly of ordered graphene nanodot arrays

Raw data associated with the publication "Self-assembly of ordered graphene nanodot arrays" published in Nature Communications under the DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00042-4

Abstract: The ability to fabricate nanoscale domains of uniform size in two-dimensional (2D) materials could potentially enable new applications in nanoelectronics and the development of innovative metamaterials. However, achieving even minimal control over the growth of 2D lateral heterostructures at such extreme dimensions has proven exceptionally challenging. Here we show the spontaneous formation of ordered arrays of graphene nano-domains (dots), epitaxially embedded in a 2D boron-carbon-nitrogen alloy. These dots exhibit a strikingly uniform size of 1.6nm ± 0.2nm and strong ordering, and the array periodicity can be tuned by adjusting the growth conditions. We explain this behaviour with a model incorporating dot-boundary energy, a moiré-modulated substrate interaction, and long-range repulsion between dots. This new 2D material, which theory predicts to be an ordered composite of uniform-size semiconducting graphene quantum dots laterally integrated within a larger-bandgap matrix, holds promise for novel electronic and optoelectronic properties, with a variety of potential device applications.