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

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 discrimin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2016-12, Vol.117 (27), p.276102-276102, Article 276102
Main Authors: Prévot, Geoffroy, Hogan, Conor, Leoni, Thomas, Bernard, Romain, Moyen, Eric, Masson, Laurence
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic structure
Chains
Honeycomb structures
Image resolution
Nanostructure
Physics
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Silicon
X ray diffraction
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.117.276102