Silicon Growth at the Two-Dimensional Limit on Ag(111)

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2014 papers

Abstract

Having fueled the microelectronics industry for over 50 years, silicon is arguably the most studied and influential semiconductor. With the recent emergence of two-dimensional (2D) materials (e.g., graphene, MoS2, phosphorene, etc.), it is natural to contemplate the behavior of Si in the 2D limit. Guided by atomic-scale studies utilizing ultrahigh vacuum (UHV), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and spectroscopy (STS), we have investigated the 2D limits of Si growth on Ag(111). In contrast to previous reports of a distinct sp(2)-bonded silicene allotrope, we observe the evolution of apparent surface alloys (ordered 2D silicon-Ag surface phases), which culminate in the precipitation of crystalline, sp(3)-bonded Si(111) nanosheets. These nanosheets are capped with a √3 honeycomb phase that is isostructural to a √3 honeycomb-chained-trimer (HCT) reconstruction of Ag on Si(111). Further investigations reveal evidence for silicon intermixing with the Ag(111) substrate followed by surface precipitation of crystalline, sp(3)-bonded silicon nanosheets. These conclusions are corroborated by ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Even at the 2D limit, scanning tunneling spectroscopy shows that the sp(3)-bonded silicon nanosheets exhibit semiconducting electronic properties.

Related Papers

• → Scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy of self-assembled InAs quantum dots(1998)87 cited
• → Scanning Tunneling Potentiometry: The Power of STM applied to Electrical Transport(2007)8 cited
• → Theory of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy Based on the Resonant Tunneling Model: Can We Observe Surface States?(1994)15 cited
• → Controlled Manipulation of Single Atoms and Small Molecules Using the Scanning Tunneling Microscope(2016)3 cited
• → Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy Study at the α-Sn/Ge(111) Surface(2006)2 cited