22 research outputs found
Anomalous insulator metal transition in boron nitride-graphene hybrid atomic layers
The study of two-dimensional (2D) electronic systems is of great fundamental
significance in physics. Atomic layers containing hybridized domains of
graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BNC) constitute a new kind of
disordered 2D electronic system. Magneto-electric transport measurements
performed at low temperature in vapor phase synthesized h-BNC atomic layers
show a clear and anomalous transition from an insulating to a metallic behavior
upon cooling. The observed insulator to metal transition can be modulated by
electron and hole doping and by the application of an external magnetic field.
These results supported by ab-initio calculations suggest that this transition
in h-BNC has distinctly different characteristics when compared to other 2D
electron systems and is the result of the coexistence between two distinct
mechanisms, namely, percolation through metallic graphene networks and hopping
conduction between edge states on randomly distributed insulating h-BN domains.Comment: 9 pages, 15 figure