The lack of large-area synthesis processes on substrates compatible with industry requirements has been one of the major hurdles facing the integration of 2D materials in mainstream technologies. This is particularly the case for the recently discovered monoelemental group V 2D materials which can only be produced by exfoliation or growth on exotic substrates. Herein, to overcome this limitation, we demonstrate a scalable method to synthesize antimonene on germanium substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. This emerging 2D material has been attracting a great deal of attention due to its high environmental stability and its outstanding optical and electronic properties. In situ low energy electron microscopy allowed the real time investigation and optimization of the 2D growth. Theoretical calculations combined with atomic-scale microscopic and spectroscopic measurements demonstrated that the grown antimonene sheets are of high crystalline quality, interact weakly with germanium, exhibit semimetallic characteristics, and remain stable under ambient conditions. This achievement paves the way for the integration of antimonene in innovative nanoscale and quantum technologies compatible with the current semiconductor manufacturing.
Keywords: 2D materials; antimony; density functional theory; epitaxial growth; germanium; in situ electron microscopy.