Effects of heavy metal adsorption on silicene

Based on first‐principles calculations, we study the effects of heavy metal atoms (Au, Hg, Tl, and Pb) adsorbed on silicene. We find that the hollow site is energetically favorable in each case. We particulary address the question how the adsorption modifies the band structure in the vicinity of the Fermi energy. Our results demonstrate that the heavy metal adatoms result in substantial energy gaps and band splittings in the silicene sheet as long as the binding is strong, which, however, is not always the case. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)