Characterization of epitaxial silicene with Raman spectroscopy

Silicene, the silicon equivalent of graphene, is most commonly grown on Ag(111) substrates where it undergoes reconstruction due to the strong interaction between the Si and Ag atoms. We demonstrate through first-principles density functional theory for eight reconstructions that the Raman spectrum is unique for each configuration. We argue that the reconstructions can, in fact, be identified by their Raman spectra and suggest key features within the spectra as points of reference to be used for identification.