Silicene on Ag(111): an honeycomb lattice without Dirac bands

Abstract

The discovery of (4x4) silicene formation on Ag(111) raised the question on whether silicene maintains its Dirac fermion character, similar to graphene, on a supporting substrate. Previous photoemission studies indicated that the π-band forms Dirac cones near the Fermi energy, while theoretical investigations found it shifted at deeper binding energy. By means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations we show instead that the π-symmetry states lose their local character and the Dirac cone fades out. The formation of an interface state of free-electron-like Ag origin is found to account for spectral features that were theoretically and experimentally attributed to silicene bands of π-character.

14 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (3)

• The electronic properties of graphene
• Electronic structure of silicon-based nanostructures
• Coexistence of multiple silicene phases in silicon grown on Ag(111)

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Revealing the substrate origin of the linear dispersion of silicene/Ag(111)
• Plasmon properties and hybridization effects in Silicene
• Superstructure-induced splitting of Dirac cones in silicene
• Crossover between Silicene and Ultra-Thin Si Atomic Layers on Ag(111) Surfaces
• Interband $\pi$-like plasmon in silicene grown on silver
• Emergence of Dirac-like bands in the monolayer limit of epitaxial Ge films on Au(111)
• Electronic structure of a 3x3-ordered silicon layer on Al(111)