The electronic properties of the two-dimensional (2D) α phase of antimonene are unique, featuring unpinned Dirac cones that can be moved with strain. Here we investigate the structural and electronic properties of an epitaxial 2D α-antimonene, grown on Au(111). Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density-functional theory, we reveal a strong hybridization at the Sb/Au interface, which imprints a rectangular reconstruction in the Au states, producing a band folding and hybrid bands exhibiting trigonal pockets. Additionally, hybridization displaces part of the Au wavefunction in regions of large electrostatic potential gradient, thereby enhancing spin-orbit splitting. Our work underscores that the pristine electronic properties of α-antimonene may be deeply modified by its substrate, and even overwhelmed by the bands of the latter, and also shows that spin-orbit interaction in a heavy metal (Au) can be substantially enhanced by a lighter element (Sb).
@article{arxiv.2601.02922,
title = {Surface reconstruction-driven band folding and spin-orbit enhancement at the $\alpha$-antimonene/Au(111) interface},
author = {Thomas Pierron and José de Jesùs Villalobos Castro and Etienne Barre and Dan Wang and Stephane Pons and Dimitri Roditchev and Azzedine Bendounan and Valerie Guisset and Philippe David and Johann Coraux and Lorenzo Sponza and Sergio Vlaic},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.02922},
year = {2026}
}