Abstract
Using atomic resolved scanning tunneling microscopy, we present here the experimental evidence of a silicene sheet (graphenelike structure) epitaxially grown on a close-packed silver surface [Ag(111)]. This has been achieved via direct condensation of a silicon atomic flux onto the single-crystal substrate in ultrahigh vacuum conditions. A highly ordered silicon structure, arranged within a honeycomb lattice, is synthesized and present two silicon sublattices occupying positions at different heights (0.02 nm) indicating possible sp(2)-sp(3) hybridizations. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3524215]