Investigating the Electrical Properties of Monolayer and Bilayer h‐BNs via Atomic Force Microscopy

Abstract Hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) is one of the most important 2D materials which attracts tremendous attention for the demonstrated great potential applications in optical and electronic devices. However, whether there are significant differences in the electrical properties of h‐BN with different layers and its mechanism is not revealed clearly. Based on the atomic force microscopy (AFM) technology, the electrical properties of monolayer h‐BN and bilayer h‐BN are investigated. It is found that bilayer h‐BN shows quite different electrical characteristics from monolayer h‐BN. It is proposed that the difference of work functions between monolayer h‐BN and bilayer h‐BN contributes to the different electrical characteristics. Meanwhile, the interlayer coupling resistance due to coupling between the layers of h‐BN also plays a vital role in electron transport. Besides, the effect of load force on electrical characteristics of h‐BN with different layers is also investigated. This work provides a new insight to understand the effect of the different layers on electrical properties of h‐BN. It is hoped that this valuable experimental data can offer meaningful suggestions for future studies and applications on h‐BN and other 2D nanomaterials in general.