Abstract
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Interlayer interactions perturb the electronic structure of twodimensional
materials and lead to new physical phenomena, such as van Hove
singularities and Hofstadter’s butterfly pattern. Silicene, the recently
discovered two-dimensional form of silicon, is quite unique, in that silicon
atoms adopt competing sp2 and sp3 hybridization states leading to a lowbuckled
structure promising relatively strong interlayer interaction. In
multilayer silicene, the stacking order provides an important yet rarely
explored degree of freedom for tuning its electronic structures through
manipulating interlayer coupling. Here, we report the emergence of van Hove
singularities in the multilayer silicene created by an interlayer rotation. We
demonstrate that even a large-angle rotation (>20°) between stacked silicene
layers can generate a Moiré pattern and van Hove singularities due to the
strong interlayer coupling in multilayer silicene. Our study suggests an
intriguing method for expanding the tunability of the electronic structure for
electronic applications in this two-dimensional material.