h-BN nanomesh on transition metal surfaces
Robert Laskowski
The search for nanostructured new materials, in particular, when formed by self-assembly, is of great importance and thus a very active field of research. Recently, such a self-assembling structure was detected when borazine is thermally decomposed on a Rh(111) surface. Boron nitride forms a highly regular nanomesh on several transition metal surfaces (Rh(111), Ru(001), Pt(111)) with a periodicity of about 3 nanometers. Using the DFT as implemented in the Wien2k package, we provide an simple understanding of the h-BN/Me nanomesh. The structure consists of a highly corrugated single layer of h-BN. The theoretically predicted corrugation is consistent with the observed splitting of the BN-σ bands as well as with the experimental STM images.
