Silicene passivation by few-layer graphene.

The stabilization of silicene at ambient conditions is essential for its characterization, future processing and device integration. Here, we demonstrate in-situ encapsulation of silicene on Ag(111) by exfoliated few-layer graphene (FLG) flakes, allowing subsequent Raman analysis under ambient conditions. Raman spectroscopy measurements proved that FLG capping serves as an effective passivation, preventing degradation of silicene for up to 48 hours. The acquired data are consistent with former in-situ Raman measurements, showing two characteristic peaks, located at 216 cm and 515 cm. Polarization-dependent measurements allowed to identify the two modes as A and E, demonstrating that the symmetry properties of silicene are unaltered by the capping process.