TY - JOUR

T1 - Topographically-Guided van der Waals Epitaxy: Selective Growth of AlN Nanowalls on h-BN Step Edges

AU - Даутов, Альберт Маратович

AU - Дубровский, Владимир Германович

AU - Шугабаев, Талгат

AU - Лендяшова, Вера Вадимовна

AU - Котляр, Константин Павлович

AU - Кузнецов, Алексей

AU - Алексеев, Прохор

AU - Попов, Михаил

AU - Штром, Игорь Викторович

AU - Toksumakov, Adilet

AU - Ghazaryan, Davit

AU - Парфёнова, Алеся

AU - Арсенин, Алексей

AU - Большаков, Алексей Дмитриевич

AU - Цырлин, Георгий Эрнстович

AU - Гридчин, Владислав Олегович

PY - 2026/3/15

Y1 - 2026/3/15

N2 - Precise spatial and morphological control in the synthesis of semiconductor nanostructures remains a critical challenge for the bottom-up fabrication of integrated nanosystems. Here, we demonstrate that the substrate topography can be used to deterministically control the van der Waals epitaxy of AlN nanostructures on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) flakes. Atomic force and scanning electron microscopy studies reveal that vertical AlN nanowires grow randomly on the h-BN surface, while nanowalls preferentially nucleate and propagate along the step edges of h-BN flakes. This morphological selectivity is governed by a critical step height: nucleation of nanowalls occurs only at the steps exceeding a height of 5 ± 1 monolayers of h-BN. In the temperature range from 810 to 850 °C, increasing the growth temperature reduces the nanowire surface density and simultaneously enhances vertical growth of both nanowires and nanowalls. These trends are discussed within a qualitative model. This work establishes a new principle for topographical control over vdW epitaxy, opening a pathway for the fabrication of integrated deep-ultraviolet photonic circuits and ordered piezoelectric nanosystems.

AB - Precise spatial and morphological control in the synthesis of semiconductor nanostructures remains a critical challenge for the bottom-up fabrication of integrated nanosystems. Here, we demonstrate that the substrate topography can be used to deterministically control the van der Waals epitaxy of AlN nanostructures on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) flakes. Atomic force and scanning electron microscopy studies reveal that vertical AlN nanowires grow randomly on the h-BN surface, while nanowalls preferentially nucleate and propagate along the step edges of h-BN flakes. This morphological selectivity is governed by a critical step height: nucleation of nanowalls occurs only at the steps exceeding a height of 5 ± 1 monolayers of h-BN. In the temperature range from 810 to 850 °C, increasing the growth temperature reduces the nanowire surface density and simultaneously enhances vertical growth of both nanowires and nanowalls. These trends are discussed within a qualitative model. This work establishes a new principle for topographical control over vdW epitaxy, opening a pathway for the fabrication of integrated deep-ultraviolet photonic circuits and ordered piezoelectric nanosystems.

KW - AlN

KW - Nanowalls

KW - Nanowires

KW - Selective growth

KW - Two-dimensional materials

KW - h-BN

KW - van der Waals epitaxy

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/7e388510-4b95-3540-9727-709c8526b89a/

U2 - 10.1016/j.mssp.2025.110293

DO - 10.1016/j.mssp.2025.110293

M3 - Article

VL - 204

JO - Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing

JF - Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing

SN - 1369-8001

M1 - 110293

ER -