Solid argon as a possible substrate for quasi-freestanding silicene

Abstract

We study the structural and electronic properties of silicene on solid Ar(111) substrate using ab initio calculations. We demonstrate that due to weak interaction, quasi-freestanding silicene is realized in this system. The small binding energy of only meV per Si atom also indicates the possibility to separate silicene from the solid Ar(111) substrate. In addition, a band gap of 11 meV and a significant splitting of the energy levels due to spin-orbit coupling are observed. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.