Full Crystallographic Imaging of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Monolayers with Phonon-Enhanced Sum-Frequency Microscopy

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Mueller, Niclas S., Fellows, Alexander P., John, Ben, Naclerio, Andrew E., Carbogno, Christian, Gharagozloo-Hubmann, Katayoun, Baláž, Damián, Kowalski, Ryan A., Heenen, Hendrik H., Scheurer, Christoph, Reuter, Karsten, Caldwell, Joshua D., Wolf, Martin, Kidambi, Piran R., Thämer, Martin, Paarmann, Alexander
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Mueller, Niclas S.
Fellows, Alexander P.
John, Ben
Naclerio, Andrew E.
Carbogno, Christian
Gharagozloo-Hubmann, Katayoun
Baláž, Damián
Kowalski, Ryan A.
Heenen, Hendrik H.
Scheurer, Christoph
Reuter, Karsten
Caldwell, Joshua D.
Wolf, Martin
Kidambi, Piran R.
Thämer, Martin
Paarmann, Alexander
author_facet Mueller, Niclas S.
Fellows, Alexander P.
John, Ben
Naclerio, Andrew E.
Carbogno, Christian
Gharagozloo-Hubmann, Katayoun
Baláž, Damián
Kowalski, Ryan A.
Heenen, Hendrik H.
Scheurer, Christoph
Reuter, Karsten
Caldwell, Joshua D.
Wolf, Martin
Kidambi, Piran R.
Thämer, Martin
Paarmann, Alexander
contents Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is an important 2D material for van der Waals heterostructures, single photon emitters, and infrared nanophotonics. The optical characterization of mono- and few-layer samples of hBN however remains a challenge as the material is almost invisible optically. Here we introduce phase-resolved sum-frequency microscopy as a technique for imaging monolayers of hBN grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and visualize their crystal orientation. A combination of femtosecond mid-infrared (IR) and visible laser pulses is used for sum-frequency generation (SFG), which is imaged in a wide-field optical microscope. The IR laser resonantly excites a phonon of hBN that leads to an ~800-fold enhancement of the SFG intensity, making it possible to image large 100x100 μm2 sample areas in less than 1 s. Implementing heterodyne detection in combination with azimuthal rotation of the sample further provides full crystallographic information. Through combined knowledge of topography and crystal orientation, we find that triangular domains of CVD-grown monolayer hBN have nitrogen-terminated zigzag edges. Overall, SFG microscopy can be used as an ultra-sensitive tool to image crystal structure, strain, stacking sequences, and twist angles, and is applicable to the wide range of van der Waals structures, where location and identification of monolayer regions and interfaces with broken inversion symmetry is of paramount importance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_15939
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Full Crystallographic Imaging of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Monolayers with Phonon-Enhanced Sum-Frequency Microscopy
Mueller, Niclas S.
Fellows, Alexander P.
John, Ben
Naclerio, Andrew E.
Carbogno, Christian
Gharagozloo-Hubmann, Katayoun
Baláž, Damián
Kowalski, Ryan A.
Heenen, Hendrik H.
Scheurer, Christoph
Reuter, Karsten
Caldwell, Joshua D.
Wolf, Martin
Kidambi, Piran R.
Thämer, Martin
Paarmann, Alexander
Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Optics
Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is an important 2D material for van der Waals heterostructures, single photon emitters, and infrared nanophotonics. The optical characterization of mono- and few-layer samples of hBN however remains a challenge as the material is almost invisible optically. Here we introduce phase-resolved sum-frequency microscopy as a technique for imaging monolayers of hBN grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and visualize their crystal orientation. A combination of femtosecond mid-infrared (IR) and visible laser pulses is used for sum-frequency generation (SFG), which is imaged in a wide-field optical microscope. The IR laser resonantly excites a phonon of hBN that leads to an ~800-fold enhancement of the SFG intensity, making it possible to image large 100x100 μm2 sample areas in less than 1 s. Implementing heterodyne detection in combination with azimuthal rotation of the sample further provides full crystallographic information. Through combined knowledge of topography and crystal orientation, we find that triangular domains of CVD-grown monolayer hBN have nitrogen-terminated zigzag edges. Overall, SFG microscopy can be used as an ultra-sensitive tool to image crystal structure, strain, stacking sequences, and twist angles, and is applicable to the wide range of van der Waals structures, where location and identification of monolayer regions and interfaces with broken inversion symmetry is of paramount importance.
title Full Crystallographic Imaging of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Monolayers with Phonon-Enhanced Sum-Frequency Microscopy
topic Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.15939