Silicene, a new two-dimensional (2D) material has attracted intense research because of the ubiquitous use of silicon in modern technology. However, producing free-standing silicene has proved to be a huge challenge. Until now, silicene could be synthesized only on metal surfaces where it naturally forms strong interactions with the metal substrate that modify its electronic properties. Here, we report the first experimental evidence of silicene sheet on an insulating NaCl thin film. This work represents a major breakthrough; for the study of the intrinsic properties of silicene, and by extension to other 2D materials that have so far only been grown on metal surfaces.
@article{arxiv.2012.15729,
title = {Silicene nanoribbons on an insulating thin film},
author = {Khalid Quertite and Hanna Enriquez and Nicolas Trcera and Yongfeng Tong and Azzedine Bendounan and Andrew J. Mayne and Gérald Dujardin and Pierre Lagarde and Abdallah El kenz and Abdelilah Benyoussef and Yannick J. Dappe and Abdelkader Kara and Hamid Oughaddou},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.15729},
year = {2021}
}