Dirac Signature in Germanene on Semiconducting Substrate

2D Dirac materials supported by nonmetallic substrates are of particular interest due to their significance for the realization of the quantum spin Hall effect and their application in field-effect transistors. Here, monolayer germanene is successfully fabricated on semiconducting germanium film with the support of a Ag(111) substrate. Its linear-like energy–momentum dispersion and large Fermi velocity are derived from the pronounced quasiparticle interference patterns in a √3 × √3 superstructure. In addition to Dirac fermion characteristics, the theoretical simulations reveal that the energy gap opens at the Brillouin zone center of the √3 × √3 restructured germanene, which is evoked by the symmetry-breaking perturbation potential. These results demonstrate that the germanium nanosheets with √3 × √3 germanene can be an ideal platform for fundamental research and for the realization of high-speed and low-energy-consumption field-effect transistors.