Germanene reformation from oxidized germanene on Ag(111)/Ge(111) by vacuum annealing

Suzuki, Seiya   ; Katsube, Daiki*; Yano, Masahiro   ; Tsuda, Yasutaka   ; Terasawa, Tomoo   ; Ozawa, Takahiro*; Fukutani, Katsuyuki; Kim, Y.*; Asaoka, Hidehito  ; Yuhara, Junji*; Yoshigoe, Akitaka 

For group 14 monoelemental two-dimensional materials, such as silicene, germanene, and stanene, oxidation is a severe problem that alters or degrades their physical properties. This study shows that the oxidized germanene on Ag(111)/Ge(111) can be reformed to germanene by simple heating around 500 C in a vacuum. The key reaction in reforming germanene is the desorption of GeO and GeO during heating around 350 C. After removing surface oxygen, Ge further segregates to the surface, resulting in germanene. The reformed germanene has the same crystal structure, a (7 7) R19.1 supercell with respect to Ag(111), and has equivalent high quality to that of as-grown germanene on Ag(111)/Ge(111). Even after air oxidation, germanene can be reformed by annealing in a vacuum. On the other hand, the desorption of GeO and GeO at high temperatures was not suppressed even in the O backfilling atmosphere. This instability of oxidized germanene/Ag(111)/Ge(111) at high temperatures contributes to the ease of germanene reformation without oxygen. In other words, the present germanene reformation, as well as the segregation of germanene on Ag(111)/Ge(111), is a highly robust process as a synthesis method of germanene.