In this Letter, the compressive strain-assisted reduction of work function (WF) of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) has been presented. For this purpose, a 30 keV Au⁻¹ ion beam was irradiated on a high-quality BNNS deposited on a Si substrate. Before ion irradiation, the pristine BNNSs were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy for the estimation of its number of layers and bandgap. The scanning electron microscopic images confirm a layer-like structure in a pristine BNNS. An x-ray diffraction (XRD) peak corresponding to the (002) plane of BNNSs appears at an angle of 26°. Shifting of the XRD peak toward higher angle with increasing fluence indicates the presence of a compressive strain in BNNSs. Scanning kelvin probe microscopy was used to map the work function of the surface of BNNSs, and it turned out that the WF decreases with increasing the dose of ions. The possible explanation of compressive strain generation by Au⁻¹ irradiation on BNNSs is discussed using the SRIM-2013 Monte Carlo simulation. The value of strain, calculated from the work function values, qualitatively agrees with the XRD result.

中文翻译：

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空位驱动压应变对氮化硼纳米片的费米能级调制

在这封信中，已经介绍了氮化硼纳米片 (BNNS) 的压缩应变辅助功函数 (WF) 减少。为此，一个 30 keV Au ^-1离子束照射在沉积在 Si 衬底上的高质量 BNNS 上。在离子辐照之前，原始 BNNS 通过拉曼光谱和紫外-可见吸收光谱表征，以估计其层数和带隙。扫描电子显微镜图像证实了原始 BNNS 中的层状结构。对应于 BNNS 的 (002) 面的 X 射线衍射 (XRD) 峰出现在 26° 的角度处。随着注量的增加，XRD 峰向更高角度的移动表明 BNNS 中存在压缩应变。扫描开尔文探针显微镜用于绘制BNNSs表面的功函数，结果表明WF随着离子剂量的增加而减小。Au ^-1产生压应变的可能解释使用 SRIM-2013 Monte Carlo 模拟讨论了对 BNNS 的照射。从功函数值计​​算的应变值与 XRD 结果定性一致。