Nanomechanical Properties of Epitaxial Silicene Revealed by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy. Issue 2 (25th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nogami, Makoto; Fleurence, Antoine; Yamada‐Takamura, Yukiko; Tomitori, Masahiko
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials interfaces. Volume 6:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-11-25
• Subjects: 2D materials -- nanomechanical properties -- nc‐AFM -- silicene -- surface stress; Materials science -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.201801278
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2196-7350

Abstract

Abstract: Silicene, the graphene‐like allotrope of silicon, has a great potential for the development of novel silicon‐based nanotechnologies. Its unique buckling makes the atomic structure of this silicon 2D material particularly flexible and tunable. The nanomechanical properties of silicene are investigated by probing epitaxial silicene on ZrB2 by atomic‐resolution noncontact atomic force microscopy. Δ f– distance curve and scan direction dependence of topographic images point out, respectively, the out‐of‐plane and in‐plane flexibility of the Si honeycomb structure. A contrast visible only in dissipation images reveals the stress distribution across the periodic domain structure texturing the silicene sheet. Abstract : The nanomechanical flexibility of silicene, a 2D allotrope of silicon is revealed by nc‐AFM. The contrast in dissipation images demonstrates stress distribution across the periodic domains texturing the spontaneously formed epitaxial silicene sheet on ZrB2 . This unique ability to visualize stresses manifests itself in the revelation of symmetry breaking in silicene between alternating domains, which is invisible in topographic images.