Controlled growth of boron-doped epitaxial graphene by thermal decomposition of a BC thin film

Norimatsu, Wataru*; Matsuda, Keita*; Terasawa, Tomoo   ; Takata, Nao*; Masumori, Atsushi*; Ito, Keita*; Oda, Koji*; Ito, Takahiro*; Endo, Akira*; Funahashi, Ryoji*; Kusunoki, Michiko*

We show that boron-doped epitaxial graphene can be successfully grown by thermal decomposition of a boron carbide thin film, which can also be epitaxially grown on a silicon carbide substrate. The interfaces of BC on SiC and graphene on BC had a fixed orientation relation, having a local stable structure with no dangling bonds. The first carbon layer on BC acts as a buffer layer, and the overlaying carbon layers are graphene. Graphene on BC was highly boron doped, and the hole concentration could be controlled over a wide range of 210 to 210 cm. Highly boron-doped graphene exhibited a spin-glass behavior, which suggests the presence of local antiferromagnetic ordering in the spin-frustration system. Thermal decomposition of carbides holds the promise of being a technique to obtain a new class of wafer-scale functional epitaxial graphene for various applications.