Investigation of the electronic band structure of phosphorene grown on Ir(111)

Among the next generation semiconductors, phosphorene, a single layer of black phosphorus, has gained considerable attention during the last years. Nevertheless, the lack of a reliable bottom-up growth has impeded its integration into electronic devices. Herein we want to investigate a phosphorene layer grown on Ir(111) via evaporation in UHV conditions. Our preliminary results, based on LEED, ARPES, XPS and ab-initio calculations, concur into a two-step growth process: first is the formation of a P-Ir alloy, which constitutes the base for the subsequent growth of a square-like phosphorene layer. The electronic band structure of the latter interestingly shows a nearly linear band crossing the Fermi level at  point, suggestive of a Dirac cone, which is also reproduced by the simulation of a black phosphorene layer on Ir(111) surface. Even though promising, our results constitute just a first stage of a thorough study of P/Ir(111) system, which is crucial for the understanding of the growth, the structure and the electronic band dispersion of phosphorene. To this purpose, additional synchrotron-based measurements are here requested.