A new horizon for hexagonal boron nitride film

Growth of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), an isomorph of graphene/graphite, has been highlighted due to its highly insulating and transparent properties, in parallel with highly-conducting graphene counterpart, which could be useful for numerous applications. Nevertheless, difficulty arises from the absence of robust synthesis methods that provide large-area and high-quality hBN with controlled number of layers. In this article, we review the recent development for the synthesis of hBN with various approaches including liquid-metal, ultra-high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD), and low-pressure CVD (LPCVD) methods. Its fundamental physical and chemical properties and its potential applications are further discussed. We expect that our comprehensive overview of the synthesis method of hBN will provide a route to find an ultimate method of synthesizing large-area and high-quality hBN with controlled number of layers.