Combined surface x-ray diffraction and density functional theory study of the germanene/Al(111)-<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mrow><mml:msqrt><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:msqrt><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msqrt><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:msqrt></mml:mrow><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:mrow><mml:mi>R</mml:mi><mml:mn>19</mml:mn><mml:mo>.</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>∘</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> structure
K. Zhang, Marie-Christine Hanf, Davide Sciacca, R. Bernard, Y. Borensztein, Andrea Resta, Y. Garreau, Alina Vlad, Alessandro Coati, I. Lefebvre, Mickaël Derivaz, C. Pirri, Philippe Sonnet, Régis Stephan, Geoffroy Prévot
Abstract
Several papers have reported the epitaxial growth of germanene, a honeycomb layer of Ge atoms. However, these studies are controversial due to a lack of precise structural analyses. Here, the authors combine surface x-ray diffraction with density functional theory calculations to demonstrate that Ge deposited on Al(111) at room temperature forms a surface alloy, organized in a Ge${}_{3}$Al${}_{3}$ honeycomb structure, and not a germanene layer as previously reported.
Topics & Concepts
GermaneneDiffractionDensity functional theorySurface (topology)Materials scienceHoneycombCrystallographyLayer (electronics)SiliceneCondensed matter physicsPhysicsNanotechnologyGeometryOpticsChemistryQuantum mechanicsMathematicsComposite materialGrapheneGraphene research and applicationsAdvanced Chemical Physics StudiesSurface and Thin Film Phenomena