Paper detail

Formation of a Te-Ag Honeycomb Alloy: A New Type of Two-Dimensional Material

Inspired by the unique properties of graphene, the focus in the literature is now on investigations of various two-dimensional (2D) materials with the aim to explore their properties for future applications. The group IV analogues of graphene, i.e., silicene, germanene and stanene have been intensively studied in recent years. However, their semi-metallic band structures hamper their use in electronic applications. Hence, the synthesis of 2D materials with band gaps of various sizes has attracted a large interest. Here, we report a successful preparation of a 2D Te-Ag binary alloy with a honeycomb structure. Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) in combination with first-principles calculations using density functional theory (DFT) confirmed the formation of this binary alloy. The semiconducting property is verified by the ARPES data and a direct gap of ~0.7 eV is predicted by the DFT calculations.