Structure and Quantum Well States in Silicene Nanoribbons on Ag(110)

TL;DR

This study combines STM/STS experiments and first-principles calculations to elucidate the atomic structure and quantum well states in silicene nanoribbons on Ag(110), revealing armchair silicene nanoribbons with reconstructed edges and quantized electronic states.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed atomic structure of silicene nanoribbons on Ag(110) and demonstrates the presence of quantum well states explained by a 1D particle-in-a-box model.

Findings

Silicene nanoribbons are armchair with reconstructed edges.

Pronounced quantum well states observed in SiNRs.

Quantum well states explained by 1D particle-in-a-box theory.

Abstract

We have performed scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) study and first-principles calculations to investigate the atomic structure and electronic properties of silicon nanoribbons (SiNRs) grown on Ag(110). Despite of the extensive research on SiNRs in the last decades, its atomic structure is still not fully understood so far. In this report we determine that the structure of SiNRs/Ag(110) is armchair silicene nanoribbon with reconstructed edges. Meanwhile, pronounced quantum well states (QWS) in SiNRs were observed and their energy spectrum was systematically measured. The QWS are due to the confinement of quasiparticles perpendicular to the nanoribbon and can be well explained by the theory of one-dimensional (1D) 'particle-in-a-box' model in quantum mechanics.