In situ XANES and GID characterization of 2D GaN growth on liquid metal catalysts

Liquid metal catalysts (LMCats) are a promising platform for the synthesis and growth of large, defect-free and highly crystalline two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. More recently, a larger range of 2D materials have been produced this way, including GaN, which is of high interest for applications in nanoelectronics. With the proposed experiments, we aim at investigating the structure of 2D GaN crystals during their growth on liquid gallium alloys. The electronic structure and chemical environment of Ga species will be tracked in situ using XANES, while the in-plane lattice constant, crystallite size and strains of the 2D GaN crystals will be tracked using GID. These experiments will enable to unravel the growth mechanism of 2D GaN on the surface of liquid metals and probe in depth the chemical mechanisms at play.