Nanomechanical Properties of Epitaxial Silicene Revealed by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy

Abstract Silicene, the graphene‐like allotrope of silicon, has a great potential for the development of novel silicon‐based nanotechnologies. Its unique buckling makes the atomic structure of this silicon 2D material particularly flexible and tunable. The nanomechanical properties of silicene are investigated by probing epitaxial silicene on ZrB₂ by atomic‐resolution noncontact atomic force microscopy. Δf–distance curve and scan direction dependence of topographic images point out, respectively, the out‐of‐plane and in‐plane flexibility of the Si honeycomb structure. A contrast visible only in dissipation images reveals the stress distribution across the periodic domain structure texturing the silicene sheet.