Optical Signatures of Dirac Electrodynamics for hBN-Passivated Silicene on Au(111)

The allotropic affinity for bulk silicon and unique electronic and optical properties make silicene a promising candidate for future high-performance devices compatible with mature complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology. However, silicene's outstanding properties are not preserved on its most prominent growth templates, due to strong substrate interactions and hybridization effects. In this letter, we report the optical properties of silicene epitaxially grown on Au(111). A novel in situ passivation methodology with few-layer hexagonal boron nitride enables detailed ex situ characterization at ambient conditions via μ-Raman spectroscopy and reflectance measurements. The optical properties of silicene on Au(111) appeared to be in accordance with the characteristics predicted theoretically for freestanding silicene, allowing the conclusion that its prominent electronic properties are preserved. The absorption features are, however, modified by many-body effects induced by the Au substrate due to an increased screening of electron-hole interactions.