The fate of the 2√3 × 2√3R(30°) silicene phase on Ag(111)
Zhi-Long Liu,
Mei-Xiao Wang,
Canhua Liu,
Jin-Feng Jia,
Patrick Vogt,
Claudio Quaresima,
Carlo Ottaviani,
Bruno Olivieri,
Paola De Padova,
Guy Le Lay
Affiliations
Zhi-Long Liu
Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
Mei-Xiao Wang
Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
Canhua Liu
Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
Jin-Feng Jia
Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
Patrick Vogt
Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Claudio Quaresima
CNR-ISM, via Fosso del Cavaliere, Rome 00133, Italy
Carlo Ottaviani
CNR-ISM, via Fosso del Cavaliere, Rome 00133, Italy
Bruno Olivieri
ISAC-CNR, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Rome, Italy
Paola De Padova
CNR-ISM, via Fosso del Cavaliere, Rome 00133, Italy
Guy Le Lay
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, PIIM UMR 7345, 13397, Marseille, France
Silicon atoms deposited on Ag(111) produce various single layer silicene sheets with different buckling patterns and periodicities. Low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that one of the silicene sheets, the hypothetical √7 × √7 silicene structure, on 2√3 × 2√3 Ag(111), is inherently highly defective and displays no long-range order. Moreover, Auger and photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal its sudden death, to end, in a dynamic fating process at ∼300 °C. This result clarifies the real nature of the 2√3 × 2√3R(30°) silicene phase and thus helps to understand the diversity of the silicene sheets grown on Ag(111).
