Optical and thermal responses of silicene in Xene heterostructures

Stabilization of silicene and preservation of its structural and electronic properties are essential for its processing and future integration into devices. The stacking of silicene on stanene, creating a Xene-based heterostructure, proves to be a viable new route in this respect. Here we demonstrate the effectiveness of a stanene layer in breaking the strong interaction between silicene and the Ag(111) substrate. The role of stanene as a ‘buffer’ layer is investigated by analyzing the optical response of epitaxial silicene through both power-dependent Raman spectroscopy and reflectivity measurements in the near infrared (NIR)–ultraviolet (UV) spectral range. Finally, we point out a Xene-induced shift of the silver plasma edge that paves the way for the development of a new approach to engineering the metal plasmonic response.