Germanene: A novel two-dimensional germanium allotrope akin to graphene and silicene

Abstract

We have grown an atom-thin, ordered, two-dimensional multi-phase film in situ through germanium molecular beam epitaxy using a gold (111) surface as a substrate. Its growth is similar to the formation of silicene layers on silver (111) templates. One of the phases, forming large domains, as observed in scanning tunneling microscopy, shows a clear, nearly flat, honeycomb structure. Thanks to thorough synchrotron radiation core-level spectroscopy measurements and advanced density functional theory calculations we can identify it as a √3 × √3 R(30°) germanene layer in conjunction with a √7 × √7 R(19.1°) Au(111) supercell, presenting compelling evidence of the synthesis of the germanium-based cousin of graphene on gold.