Amorphous boron nitride as transferable insulator flakes

In this study we describe the deposition, transfer and electrical properties of non-stoichiometric amorphous boron nitride, namely a-B0.69N, to prove its potential for van der Waals heterostructures. The material is deposited using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) process based on a micro-plasma generated in an argon/nitrogen gas mixture, with boron tribromide as a precursor. We reveal that a-BN thin films grow forming blisters and we show the ability to mechanically transfer them on SiO2 and gold which are common materials in microelectronic. a-BN flakes show outstanding adhesion properties on gold when submitted to mechanical stress. The electrical characterization of the flakes reveals an insulating behavior (∼20 TΩ), with a leakage current starting to appear at 0.35 V.nm−1 and a breakdown voltage higher than 0.78 V.nm−1, opening new routes for the use of a-BN in micro- and nano-electronics.