Silicene Multilayers On Ag(111) Display A Cubic Diamondlike Structure And A Root 3 X Root 3 Reconstruction Induced By Surfactant Ag Atoms

The structure of silicene multilayers grown on Ag(111) and the nature of their root 3 x root 3 R30 degrees reconstruction were studied by low-energy electron diffraction, Auger spectroscopy, and optical reflectance methods. It is shown that the surface reconstruction is induced by a surfactant layer of silver atoms during the growth of the silicon film and is not due to pristine Si. The Si film displays the optical characteristics of bulk cubic diamondlike Si, which indicates that it is not formed by any other allotropic phase of Si, which does not exist in nature, whether it is stacking of silicene layers, or "silicite."