Unoccupied electronic band structure of pentagonal Si nanoribbons on Ag(110)

• Published in: Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP Vol. 21; no. 32; pp. 17811 - 1782
• Main Authors: Kleimeier, Nils Fabian, Wenzel, Gabi, Urban, Adrian Joe, Tchalala, Mohamed Rachid, Oughaddou, Hamid, Dedkov, Yuriy, Voloshina, Elena, Zacharias, Helmut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 2019
• Subjects: Atomic structure; Band structure of solids; Banded structure; Density functional theory; Nanoribbons; Optoelectronics; Photoelectric emission; Physics; Semiconductor devices; Silicon; Spectrum analysis; Spintronics; Substrates; inverse photoemission spectroscopy; DFT
• ISSN: 1463-9076; 1463-9084
• DOI: 10.1039/c9cp02239b

Silicon nanoribbons - one dimensional silicon structures with a pentagonal atomic structure and mixed sp 2 - and sp 3 -hybridisation - grow on Ag(110) upon deposition of silicon. These nanostructures are viewed as promising candidates for modern day electronics as they are comprised of the same element as today's semiconductor devices. Even though they have been studied extensively over the last decade, only little is known about their unoccupied band structure which is important for possible future optoelectronics, semiconductor, and spintronics applications. In order to elucidate the unoccupied band structure of the nanoribbons, k -resolved inverse photoemission spectroscopy (KRIPES) studies were performed on both nanoribbon structures reported in the literature as well as on the bare Ag(110) substrate within the energy range of E − E F = 0-6.5 eV. The obtained experimental results are compared to density functional theory (DFT) calculated band structures to assign individual spectral features to specific bands. Since even small changes in the structural model of the nanoribbons lead to a change in the calculated band structure, this comparison allows us to assess the validity of the proposed structural models. The unoccupied band structure of silicon nanoribbons on Ag(110) was investigated using k -resolved inverse photoemission spectroscopy and DFT calculations.