Abstract
Our scanning tunneling microscopy and electron diffraction experiments revealed that a new two-dimensional allotrope of Bi forms on the surface. This pseudocubic -oriented allotrope is stable up to four atomic layers at room temperature. Above this critical thickness, the entire volume of the film starts to transform into a bulk single-crystal (001) phase, as the bulk contribution in the cohesion becomes dominant. Based on ab initio calculations, we propose that the new allotrope consists of black phosphorus-like puckered layers stabilized by saturating all the dangling bonds in the film.
- Received 25 August 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.105501
©2004 American Physical Society