Fabrication and properties of silicene and silicene–graphene layered structures on Ir (111)

Meng Lei^a),^b), Wang Ye-Liang†^b), Zhang Li-Zhi^b), Du Shi-Xuan^b), Gao Hong-Jun‡^b)

STM images of the Ir (111) surface (a) before ( U = −0.1 V, and I = 0.11 nA) and (b) after ( U = −1.12 V, and I = 0.03 nA) silicon deposition. (c) STM topographic image ( U = −1.45 V, and I = 0.25 nA), showing a superstructure of the silicon adlayer formed on the Ir (111) surface after being annealed. The direction of this reconstruction is indicated by the yellow arrow. The close-packed direction of Ir [1-10] is indicated by the white arrow. The angle between the yellow and white arrows is around 41°. (d) STM image ( U = −1.5 V, and I = 0.05 nA) of the silicon superstructure with another orientation, indicated by the blue arrow. The rotation angle between the blue and white arrows is about 19°. (e) Line profile along the blue line in panel (d), revealing the periodicity of the protrusions (0.72 nm) and a corrugation of around 0.6 Å for the silicon adlayer.^{[ 73 ]}