Volume 227, 2021

Stability and universal encapsulation of epitaxial Xenes

Abstract

In the realm of two-dimensional material frameworks, single-element graphene-like lattices, known as Xenes, pose several issues concerning their environmental stability, with implications for their use in technology transfer to a device layout. In this Discussion, we scrutinize the chemical reactivity of epitaxial silicene, taken as a case in point, in oxygen-rich environments. The oxidation of silicene is detailed by means of a photoemission spectroscopy study upon carefully dosing molecular oxygen under vacuum and subsequent exposure to ambient conditions, showing different chemical reactivity. We therefore propose a sequential Al2O3 encapsulation of silicene as a solution to face degradation, proving its effectiveness by virtue of the interaction between silicene and a silver substrate. Based on this method, we generalize our encapsulation scheme to a large number of metal-supported Xenes by taking into account the case of epitaxial phosphorene-on-gold.

Graphical abstract: Stability and universal encapsulation of epitaxial Xenes

Associated articles

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Nov 2019
Accepted
23 Dec 2019
First published
30 Dec 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Faraday Discuss., 2021,227, 171-183

Stability and universal encapsulation of epitaxial Xenes

A. Molle, G. Faraone, A. Lamperti, D. Chiappe, E. Cinquanta, C. Martella, E. Bonera, E. Scalise and C. Grazianetti, Faraday Discuss., 2021, 227, 171 DOI: 10.1039/C9FD00121B

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