Atomic structure of “multilayer silicene” grown on Ag(111): Dynamical low energy electron diffraction analysis

Abstract

We have investigated the atomic structure of the “multilayer silicene” grown on the Ag(111) single crystal surface by using low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We measured the intensity of the LEED spot as a function of the incident electron energy (I–V curve) and analyzed the I–V curve using a dynamical LEED theory. We have found that the Si(111)(3×3)-Ag model well reproduces the I–V curve whereas the models consisting of the honeycomb structure of Si do not. The bias dependence of the STM image of multilayer silicene agrees with that of the Si(111)(3×3)-Ag reconstructed surface. Consequently, we have concluded that the multilayer silicene grown on Ag(111) is identical to the Si(111)(3×3)-Ag reconstructed structure.