Growth and structural properties of silicene at multilayer coverage

Area of Science:

• Surface science
• Materials science
• Condensed matter physics

Background:

• Silicene, a silicon allotrope analogous to graphene, exhibits diverse structural phases at monolayer coverage on Ag(111).
• Previous studies reported a single structural phase for multilayer silicene, the [Formula: see text] phase, without exploring its relation to the monolayer structure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the structural arrangement of multilayer silicene films on Ag(111).
• To establish a link between the structural properties of the silicene monolayer and the resulting multilayer film.

Main Methods:

• Experimental investigation using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED).
• Surface morphology and structure analysis via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Main Results:

• Multilayer silicene on Ag(111) adopts a single structural arrangement, identified as the [Formula: see text] phase.
• Different domain orientations were observed in the multilayer film.
• These domain orientations are directly influenced by the structural characteristics of the initial silicene monolayer.

Conclusions:

• The structural properties of the initial silicene monolayer dictate the domain orientations of the subsequent multilayer film.
• Despite a single observed phase, the growth dynamics allow for structural diversity in multilayer silicene films.