JPCM topical review round-up part 4: Silicene – the new 2D material with potential

By Jade Holt on July 23, 2015

STM topography obtained upon post growth annealing.

Despite its wondrous electronic and thermal properties, the lack of an energy band gap restricts graphene’s use in logic and technological applications.

The rise in interest in 2D materials since the discovery of graphene though has led to progress in the growth and characterisation of other single atomic layers, such as Germanium, Tin and Silicon.

Silicene, a single layer of silicon atoms, has many advantages over its graphene counterpart, especially for nanoelectronic applications where its integration with existing silicon technology is simpler.

The future of silicene and its involvement in the development on nanoelectronic devices is dependent on a thorough understanding of its vibrational, electronic and structural properties.

In this review by Houssa et al the authors look over the recent research, both experimentally and theoretically, on silicene and its properties and give a comprehensive view of the work carried out and the challenges the field still faces.

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