Soft X-Ray Absorption Analysis of Mechanically-Ground Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) Exposed to Atmospheric Air

Abstract

To clarify the oxidation reaction of mechanically ground (MG) hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) in the B K, N K, and O K regions of MG-h-BN were measured in BL-6.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) and in BL10 at the NewSUBARU. From the XANES measurements and theoretical analysis using the discrete variational (DV) -Xα method, it can be confirmed that nitrogen atoms in hexagonal BN layers are substituted with oxygen atoms by exposure to atmospheric air after MG process.