Silicene on Ag(111) and Au(110) surfaces

Abstract

Over the last decade, the existence and stability of silicene has been the subject of numerous studies. Indeed, silicene resembles graphene as it is a two-dimensional material arranged in a honeycomb lattice. Electronically, the main difference between carbon and silicon is the strong preference for sp3 over sp2 in silicon. It was only in 2010 that researchers presented the first experimental evidence of the formation of silicene on Ag(110) and Ag(111), which has launched a rush for silicene in a similar way as for graphene. This very active field has naturally led to the recent growth of silicene on other substrates such as Ir, ZrB2 and Au. However, unlike graphene, the existence of silicene as a stand-alone material remains elusive. We present in this chapter the state of the art of silicene growth on Ag(111) and Au(110) substrates.