Figure 1. Formation of GNRs in h-BN trenches.

(a) Smooth surface of the h-BN; (b) Synthesis of nano-trenches on h-BN by Ni particle-assisted etching; (c) In-plane epitaxial template growth of GNRs via CVD; (d–f) AFM friction images corresponding to the schematics shown in a–c, respectively. The friction images showed better contrast than the height images, especially for GNRs embedded in the h-BN nano-trenches. Scale bars, 200 nm.