Epitaxial growth of two-dimensional stanene

• DOI: 10.1038/nmat4384
• Publication Date: 2015-08-03T16:24:02Z
• Authors: Feng-feng Zhu; Wei-jiong Chen; Yong Xu; Chun-lei Gao; Dan-dan Guan; Can-hua Liu; Dong Qian; Shou-Cheng Zhang; Jin-feng Jia
• Keywords: Germanene; Exfoliation joint

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.<br/>20 pages, 4 figures<br/>