Multilayer silicene: clear evidence

One year after the publication of the seminal paper on monolayer 3X3 reconstructed silicene grownon a silver (111) substrate, evidence of the synthesis of epitaxial sqrt3Xsqrt3 reconstructed multilayersilicene hosting Dirac fermions was presented. Although a general consensus was immediately reachedin the former case, in the latter, the mere existence of multilayer silicene was questioned and stronglydebated. Here, we demonstrate by means of a comprehensive x-ray crystallographic study thatmultilayer silicene is effectively realized upon growth at rather low growth temperatures (~200 °C),while three-dimensional growth of silicon crystallites takes place at higher temperatures, (~300 °C).This transition to bulk-like silicon perfectly explains the various data presented and discussed in theliterature and solves their conflicting interpretations.