%0 Journal Article
%T Structural and electronic properties of epitaxial multilayer h-BN on Ni(111) for spintronics applications
%A A. A. Tonkikh
%A E. N. Voloshina
%A P. Werner
%A H. Blumtritt
%A B. Senkovskiy
%A G. G¨šntherodt
%A S. S. P. Parkin
%A Yu. S. Dedkov
%J Physics
%D 2015
%I arXiv
%X Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising material for implementation in spintronics due to a large band gap, low spin-orbit coupling, and a small lattice mismatch to graphene and to close-packed surfaces of fcc-Ni(111) and hcp-Co(0001). Epitaxial deposition of h-BN on ferromagnetic metals is aimed at small interface scattering of charge and spin carriers. We report on the controlled growth of h-BN/Ni(111) by means of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Structural and electronic properties of this system are investigated using cross-section transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron spectroscopies which confirm good agreement with the properties of bulk h-BN. The latter are also corroborated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, revealing that the first h-BN layer at the interface to Ni is metallic. Our investigations demonstrate that MBE is a promising, versatile alternative to both the exfoliation approach and chemical vapour deposition of h-BN.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1510.04034v1