Epitaxial Growth of Two-Dimensional Stanene

TL;DR

This paper reports the first successful epitaxial growth of 2D stanene using molecular beam epitaxy, revealing its atomic and electronic structures and opening avenues for future applications in topological insulators and quantum devices.

Contribution

It introduces the first experimental fabrication of 2D stanene via MBE and characterizes its atomic and electronic properties.

Findings

Successful epitaxial growth of 2D stanene

Atomic and electronic structures characterized by STM and ARPES

Potential for applications in topological insulators and quantum technologies

Abstract

Ultrathin semiconductors present various novel electronic properties. The first experimental realized two-dimensional (2D) material is graphene. Searching 2D materials with heavy elements bring the attention to Si, Ge and Sn. 2D buckled Si-based silicene was realized by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth1,2. Ge-based germanene was realized by mechanical exfoliation3. Sn-based stanene has its unique properties. Stanene and its derivatives can be 2D topological insulators (TI) with a very large band gap as proposed by first-principles calculations4, or can support enhanced thermoelectric performance5, topological superconductivity6 and the near-room-temperature quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect7. For the first time, in this work, we report a successful fabrication of 2D stanene by MBE. The atomic and electronic structures were determined by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) in combination with first-principles calculations. This work will stimulate the experimental study and exploring the future application of stanene.