title: Si Nanoribbons on Ag(110) Studied by Grazing-Incidence X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, and Density-Functional Theory: Evidence of a Pentamer Chain Structure.
abstract: We report a combined grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXD), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and density-functional theory (DFT) study which clearly elucidates the atomic structure of the Si nanoribbons grown on the missing-row reconstructed Ag(110) surface. Our study allows us to discriminate between the theoretical models published in the literature, including the most stable atomic configurations and those based on a missing-row reconstructed Ag(110) surface. GIXD measurements unambiguously validate the pentamer model grown on the reconstructed surface, obtained from DFT. This pentamer atomistic model accurately matches the high-resolution STM images of the Si nanoribbons adsorbed on Ag(110). Our study closes the long-debated atomic structure of the Si nanoribbons grown on Ag(110) and definitively excludes a honeycomb structure similar to that of freestanding silicene.
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, CNRS-UMR 7588, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Geoffroy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Prévot
authors.affiliation: CNR-Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Rome "Tor Vergata," Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Conor
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CINaM, Campus de Luminy, Case 913, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leoni
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, CNRS-UMR 7588, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CINaM, Campus de Luminy, Case 913, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moyen
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CINaM, Campus de Luminy, Case 913, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Masson