Silicene on substrates: A theoretical perspective

Zhong Hong-Xia^a),^c)†, Quhe Ru-Ge^a),^d),^e),^f)†, Wang Yang-Yang^a),^g)†, Shi Jun-Jie^a), Lü Jing†‡^a),^b)

(a) STM image of large area of silicene (sample bias voltage V _s = 0.70 V and tunneling current I _t= 0.19 nA. The image size is 35 nm×35 nm). (b) High resolution STM image of the 4×4 silicene ( V _s = + 0.50 V and I _t= 0.30 nA, 3.65 nm×3.65 nm). The unit cell is shown by the white rhombus. (c) The STS spectra of silicene for various magnetic fields perpendicular to the sample surface, B _z. (d) The STS spectra of HOPG for various values of B _z. The purple triangles and green circles show the peaks originating from the LLs of massless and massive Dirac fermions, respectively. The n = 0 LL is marked by the yellow bar and the n = 1 LL of massive Dirac fermions is not clearly resolved in 3 T due to low magnetic field (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [ 33 ]. Copyright 2013 American Physical Society).