Surface Structure Determination of Black Phosphorus Using Photoelectron Diffraction

TL;DR

This study uses synchrotron-based photoelectron diffraction to analyze the atomic surface structure of black phosphorus, revealing slight displacements, buckling, and bond uniformity at the surface compared to the bulk.

Contribution

It provides detailed surface atomic structure information of black phosphorus, highlighting surface displacements and buckling not previously characterized.

Findings

Surface layer slightly displaced from bulk structure

Presence of surface buckling consistent with STM results

Surface bonds show uniformity in sp3 bond sizes

Abstract

Atomic structure of single-crystalline black phosphorus was studied by high resolution synchrotron-based photoelectron diffraction (XPD). The results show that the topmost phosphorene layer in the black phosphorus is slightly displaced compared to the bulk structure and presents a small contraction in the direction perpendicular to the surface. Furthermore, the XPD results show the presence of a small buckling among the surface atoms, in agreement with previously reported scanning tunneling microscopy results. The contraction of the surface layer added to the presence of the buckling indicates an uniformity in the size of the sp3 bonds between P atoms at the surface.