title: Compelling experimental evidence of a Dirac cone in the electronic structure of a 2D Silicon layer.
abstract: The remarkable properties of graphene stem from its two-dimensional (2D) structure, with a linear dispersion of the electronic states at the corners of the Brillouin zone (BZ) forming a Dirac cone. Since then, other 2D materials have been suggested based on boron, silicon, germanium, phosphorus, tin, and metal di-chalcogenides. Here, we present an experimental investigation of a single silicon layer on Au(111) using low energy electron diffraction (LEED), high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (HR-ARPES), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The HR-ARPES data show compelling evidence that the silicon based 2D overlayer is responsible for the observed linear dispersed feature in the valence band, with a Fermi velocity of comparable to that of graphene. The STM images show extended and homogeneous domains, offering a viable route to the fabrication of silicene-based opto-electronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, ISMO-CNRS, Bât. 210, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadeddine
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, ISMO-CNRS, Bât. 210, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Enriquez
authors.affiliation: TEMPO Beamline, Synchrotron Soleil, L'Orme des Merisiers Saint-Aubin, B.P.48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Azzedine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bendounan
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM, TASC Laboratory, AREA Science Park Basovizza, I-34149, Trieste, Italy.|International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Strada Costiera 11, I-34100, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Pranab
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar Das
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM, TASC Laboratory, AREA Science Park Basovizza, I-34149, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vobornik
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA.
authors.forename: Abdelkader
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, ISMO-CNRS, Bât. 210, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mayne
authors.affiliation: TEMPO Beamline, Synchrotron Soleil, L'Orme des Merisiers Saint-Aubin, B.P.48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sirotti
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, ISMO-CNRS, Bât. 210, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Gérald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dujardin
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, ISMO-CNRS, Bât. 210, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405, Orsay, France.|Département de physique, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, F-95031, Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oughaddou