Modern Nanotemplates Based on Graphene and Single Layer h-BN

This mini-review focuses on the recently discovered nanomeshes and nanotemplates made from carbon, boron nitride and their mixtures with a thickness of just a single atomic layer. Typically they exist on some transition metal or semiconductor substrate, the interaction with it playing a crucial role in nanopattern formation. We review systems such as graphene/SiC(0001), graphene/Ru(0001), h-BN/Ru(0001), and h-BN/Rh(111), their atomistic models, synthesis routes, as well as possible applications as templates for nanoperiodic arrays of clusters and molecule. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), it technique with ultimate resolution in real space, is stressed as an indispensable tool for a comprehensive characterization of the given systems.