Abstract
The recent outcomes related to the Xenes, the two-dimensional (2D) monoelemental graphene-like materials, in three interdisciplinary fields such as electronics, photonics and processing are here reviewed by focusing on peculiar growth and device integration aspects. In contrast with forerunner 2D materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, the Xenes pose new and intriguing challenges for their synthesis and exploitation because of their artificial nature and stabilization issues. This effort is however rewarded by a fascinating and versatile scenario where the manipulation of the matter properties at the atomic scale paves the way to potential applications never reported to date. The current state-of-the-art about electronic integration of the Xenes, their optical and photonics properties, and the developed processing methodologies are summarized, whereas future challenges and critical aspects are tentatively outlined.
Highlights
CNR-Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, Unit of Agrate Brianza, Via C
Under application of a strain field, is expected to show a quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator state [63]. These results extend the members of the Xene family playing a role in the plasmonic field, which, apart from graphene, include other monoelemental 2D materials endowed with metallic behavior such as borophene, whose plasmons in the IR and visible range have an anisotropic behavior [9,10,64] and gallenene, which showed a tunable plasmonic dispersion as a function of the dielectric environment [20,65]
Both the conditions led to the silicene encapsulated delamination with native electrodes (SEDNE) approach first reported for silicene grown on Ag(111) and successfully employed in the realization of field effect transistors (FETs) opermethodologies in case of epitaxial Xenes deposited on single crystal (111)—noble metals supported by mica substrates
Summary
The Xenes family, namely those two-dimensional (2D) materials akin to graphene, quickly expanded in the last 10 years and since the discovery of silicene in 2012 [1] and a new flourishing field of condensed matter physics and materials engineering took off [2]. The Xenes portfolio includes different electronic properties and offers the major advantage of monoelemental crystals that, on the one hand, makes easier their characterization independently of the environment they are grown and, on the other hand, provides the intriguing opportunity of assembling new materials in the fashion of heterostructures such as the recently reported silicene-stanene [24]. In this scenario, the following challenges are expected to involve the research groups working on the Xenes. The timeline evolution of the Xenes discoveries from 2012 to 2020
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