ABSTRACT
Since being discovered in 2004, graphene has crossed several barriers to emerge as the frontrunner to potentially take the integrated chip fabrication technology forward in the post-silicon era. While graphene has been reported to have exceptional electrical, thermal, and electromechanical properties, signicant impacts of the nonideal substrate (e.g., SiO2) on key material properties limit the potential applications of graphene in nanoelectronics. In this chapter, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is explored as an alternative substrate material for graphene-based electronics. Improvements in electrical behavior (carrier mobility and electrical conduction) and reliability (maximum current and power density) of devices fabricated using graphene/h-BN heterostructures have been demonstrated in comparison with the graphene/SiO2 stack. It is noted that h-BN is not only an ideal substrate for graphene eld effect transistors (GFETs)/interconnects, but also acts as a robust gate dielectric in GFETs). Moreover, owing to its superb thermal conductivity, h-BN is shown to act as a heat sink, thereby improving the graphene breakdown threshold. The viable graphene/h-BN heterostructures pave the way for
realizing the true potential of graphene as both active and passive components in nanoelectronics.
