Evidence of silicene in honeycomb structures of silicon on Ag(111).

In the search for evidence of silicene, a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of silicon, it is important to obtain a complete picture for the evolution of Si structures on Ag(111), which is believed to be the most suitable substrate for growth of silicene so far. In this work we report the finding and evolution of several monolayer superstructures of silicon on Ag(111), depending on the coverage and temperature. Combined with first-principles calculations, the detailed structures of these phases have been illuminated. These structures were found to share common building blocks of silicon rings, and they evolve from a fragment of silicene to a complete monolayer silicene and multilayer silicene. Our results elucidate how silicene forms on Ag(111) surface and provides methods to synthesize high-quality and large-scale silicene.