Stanene

Abstract: Because of its unique physical properties, graphene, a 2D honeycomb arrangement of carbon atoms, has attracted tremendous attention. Silicene, the graphene equivalent for silicon, could follow this trend, opening new perspectives for applications, especially due to its compatibility with Si-based electronics. Silicene has been theoretically predicted as a buckled honeycomb arrangement of Si atoms and having an electronic dispersion resembling that of relativistic Dirac fermions. Here we provide compelling evidence, from both structural and electronic properties, for the synthesis of epitaxial silicene sheets on a silver (111) substrate, through the combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in conjunction with calculations based on density functional theory.

Abstract: We investigate the spin-orbit opened energy gap and the band topology in recently synthesized silicene as well as two-dimensional low-buckled honeycomb structures of germanium using first-principles calculations. We demonstrate that silicene with topologically nontrivial electronic structures can realize the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) by exploiting adiabatic continuity and the direct calculation of the Z(2) topological invariant. We predict that the QSHE can be observed in an experimentally accessible low temperature regime in silicene with the spin-orbit band gap of 1.55 meV, much higher than that of graphene. Furthermore, we find that the gap will increase to 2.9 meV under certain pressure strain. Finally, we also study germanium with a similar low-buckled stable structure, and predict that spin-orbit coupling opens a band gap of 23.9 meV, much higher than the liquid nitrogen temperature.

Abstract: Starting from symmetry considerations and the tight-binding method in combination with first-principles calculation, we systematically derive the low-energy effective Hamiltonian involving spin-orbit coupling (SOC) for silicene. This Hamiltonian is very general because it applies not only to silicene itself but also to the low-buckled counterparts of graphene for the other group-IVA elements Ge and Sn, as well as to graphene when the structure returns to the planar geometry. The effective Hamitonian is the analog to the graphene quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) Hamiltonian. As in the graphene model, the effective SOC in low-buckled geometry opens a gap at the Dirac points and establishes the QSHE. The effective SOC actually contains the first order in the atomic intrinsic SOC strength ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}$, while this leading-order contribution of SOC vanishes in the planar structure. Therefore, silicene, as well as the low-buckled counterparts of graphene for the other group-IVA elements Ge and Sn, has a much larger gap opened by the effective SOC at the Dirac points than graphene, due to the low-buckled geometry and larger atomic intrinsic SOC strength. Further, the more buckled is the structure, the greater is the gap. Therefore, the QSHE can be observed in low-buckled Si, Ge, and Sn systems in an experimentally accessible temperature regime. In addition, the Rashba SOC in silicene is intrinsic due to its own low-buckled geometry, which vanishes at the Dirac point $K$, while it has a nonzero value with deviation of $\stackrel{P\vec}{k}$ from the $K$ point. Therefore, the QSHE in silicene is robust against the intrinsic Rashba SOC.

Abstract: Ultrathin semiconductors present various novel electronic properties. The first experimental realized two-dimensional (2D) material is graphene. Searching 2D materials with heavy elements bring the attention to Si, Ge and Sn. 2D buckled Si-based silicene was realized by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth1,2. Ge-based germanene was realized by mechanical exfoliation3. Sn-based stanene has its unique properties. Stanene and its derivatives can be 2D topological insulators (TI) with a very large band gap as proposed by first-principles calculations4, or can support enhanced thermoelectric performance5, topological superconductivity6 and the near-room-temperature quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect7. For the first time, in this work, we report a successful fabrication of 2D stanene by MBE. The atomic and electronic structures were determined by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) in combination with first-principles calculations. This work will stimulate the experimental study and exploring the future application of stanene.