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Silicene on non-metallic substrates: Recent theoretical and experimental advances

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Abstract

Silicene, the silicon counterpart of graphene, has been successfully grown on metallic substrates such as Ag(111), ZrB2(0001), and Ir(111) surfaces. However, characterization of its electronic structure is hampered by the metallic substrate. In addition, potential applications of silicene in nanoelectronic devices will require its growth on or integration with semiconducting and insulating substrates. We herein present a review of recent theoretical works regarding the interaction of silicene with non-metallic templates, distinguishing between the weak van-der-Waals-like interactions of silicene with, for example, layered metal (di)chalcogenides, and the stronger covalent bonding between silicene and, for example, ZnS surfaces. We then present a methodology to effectively compare the stability of diverse silicene structures using thermodynamics and molecular dynamics density functional theory calculations. Recent experimental results on the growth of silicene on MoS2 are also reported and compared to the theoretical predictions.

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Change history

  • 02 February 2018

    The name of the second author in the original version of this article was unfortunately wrongly written on page 1169.

    Instead of

    Kostantina Iordanidou

    It should read

    Konstantina Iordanidou

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Acknowledgements

This work has been financially supported by the European Project 2D-NANOLATTICES, within the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program of the European Commission, under the FET-grant number 270749, as well as the KU Leuven Research Funds, project GOA/13/011. We are grateful to A. Molle (MDM Laboratory), A. Dimoulas (NCSR Demokritos) and G. Pourtois (imec) for their valuable contributions to this work and for stimulating discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Max-Planck Straße 1, D-40237, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Emilio Scalise

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Kostantina Iordanidou, Valeri V. Afanas’ev, André Stesmans & Michel Houssa

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  1. Emilio Scalise
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Correspondence to Emilio Scalise or Michel Houssa.

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Scalise, E., Iordanidou, K., Afanas’ev, V.V. et al. Silicene on non-metallic substrates: Recent theoretical and experimental advances. Nano Res. 11, 1169–1182 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1777-y

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