Epitaxial growth of graphene-like silicon nano-ribbons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the epitaxial growth of silicene nano-ribbons on silver substrates, showing that silicon can form graphene-like honeycomb structures similar to graphene, with potential implications for nanotechnology.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence and theoretical analysis confirming the formation of silicene nano-ribbons on Ag(110) surfaces, a novel silicon nanostructure.

Findings

Silicene nano-ribbons are self-aligned in parallel arrays.

Density functional theory shows Si atoms form honeycomb structures.

Silicene resembles graphene in atomic arrangement.

Abstract

Graphene, a flat monolayer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice (a one atom thick graphite sheet), is presently the hottest material in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Its challenging hypothetical reflection in the silicon world is coined silicene; Here, we have demonstrated that the silicon nano-wires self-aligned in a massively parallel array recently observed by STM on Ag(110), are true silicene nano-ribbons. Our calculations using density functional theory clearly show that Si atoms tends to form hexagons on top the silver substrate in a honeycomb, graphene-like arrangement.