We investigate the epitaxial growth of low-dimensional nanostructures formed by surface segregation of germanium on single crystalline Ag(1 1 0) thin films supported by a Ge(1 1 0) template. Detailed studies of the atomic geometries have been carried out using scanning tunneling microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, and high-resolution synchrotron radiation core-level spectroscopy. At very low Ge coverages the segregated Ge atoms form two kinds of commensurate and incommensurate quantum structures after annealing. With increasing Ge coverages, narrow stripes, 0.5 nm in width and with lengths ranging from 5 nm to 50 nm, are formed. With further increase of the Ge atoms’ segregation on the surface, the narrow stripes transform into massively parallel one-dimensional Ge nanostructures with specific widths. From a combined analysis, these fascinating quantum structures are proposed to be zig-zag germanene nanoribbons, potentially with very exciting electronic, spintronic, and topological properties.

我们调查的锗在单晶Ag（1  1  0）薄膜上被Ge（1  1 ）支撑的表面偏析形成的低维纳米结构的外延生长 0）模板。已经使用扫描隧道显微镜，低能电子衍射，俄歇电子能谱和高分辨率同步辐射核芯能级谱对原子的几何形状进行了详细的研究。在非常低的Ge覆盖率下，退火后偏析的Ge原子形成两种相应的和不相应的量子结构。随着Ge覆盖率的增加，形成了宽度为0.5nm，长度为5nm至50nm的窄条。随着Ge原子在表面上的偏析的进一步增加，窄条转变为具有特定宽度的大面积平行的一维Ge纳米结构。通过综合分析，这些引人入胜的量子结构被认为是曲折的锗烯纳米带，可能具有非常令人兴奋的电子，自旋电子学，