Confined Monolayer Ag As a Large Gap 2D Semiconductor and Its Momentum Resolved Excited States.

Lee, Woojoo; Wang, Yuanxi; Qin, Wei; Kim, Hyunsue; Liu, Mengke; Nunley, T Nathan; Fang, Bin; Maniyara, Rinu et al. · Nano Lett · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

2D materials have intriguing quantum phenomena that are distinctively different from their bulk counterparts. Recently, epitaxially synthesized wafer-scale 2D metals, composed of elemental atoms, are attracting attention not only for their potential applications but also for exotic quantum effects such as superconductivity. By mapping momentum-resolved electronic states using time-resolved and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we reveal that monolayer Ag confined between bilayer graphene and SiC is a large gap (>1 eV) 2D semiconductor, consistent with ab initio GW calculations. The measured valence band dispersion matches the GW quasiparticle band structure. However, the conduction band dispersion shows an anomalously large effective mass of 2.4 m<sub>0</sub>. Possible mechanisms for this large enhancement in the "apparent mass" are discussed.