Silicene, a monolayer of silicon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, has been undergoing rapid development in recent years due to its superior electronic properties and its compatibility with mature silicon-based semiconductor technology. The successful synthesis of silicene on several substrates provides a solid foundation for the use of silicene in future microelectronic devices. In this review, we discuss the growth mechanism of silicene on an Ag (111) surface, which is crucial for achieving high quality silicene. Several critical issues related to the electronic properties of silicene are also summarized, including the point defect effect, substrate effect, intercalation of alkali metal, and alloying with transition metals.

Silicene is a two-dimensional (2D) material, which is composed of a single layer of silicon atoms with sp²–sp³ mixed hybridization. The sp²–sp³ mixed hybridization renders silicene excellent reactive ability, facilitating the chemical modification of silicene. It has been demonstrated that chemical modification effectively enables the tuning of the properties of silicene. We now review all kinds of chemical modification methods for silicene, including hydrogenation, halogenation, organic surface modification, oxidation, doping and formation of 2D hybrids. The effects of these chemical modification methods on the geometrical, electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of silicene are discussed. The potential applications of chemically modified silicene in a variety of fields such as electronics, optoelectronics, and magnetoelectronics are introduced. We finally envision future work on the chemical modification of silicene for further advancing the development of silicene.

Spintronics involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. The fascinating spin-resolved properties of graphene motivate numerous researchers to study spintronics in graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials. Silicene, the silicon analog of graphene, is considered to be a promising material for spintronics. Here, we present a review of theoretical advances with regard to spin-dependent properties, including the electric field-and exchange field-tunable topological properties of silicene and the corresponding spintronic device simulations.

This work reviews our recent works about the density functional theory (DFT) calculational aspects of electronic properties in silicene-based nanostructures with the modulation of external fields, such as electric field, strain, etc. For the two-dimensional (2D) silicene-based nonostructures, the magnetic moment of Fe-doped silicene shows a sharp jump at a threshold electric field, which indicates a good switching effect, implying potential applications as a magnetoelectric (ME) diode. With the electric field, the good controllability and sharp switching of the magnetism may offer a potential applications in the ME devices. For the one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, the silicene nanoribbons with sawtooth edges (SSiNRs) are more stable than the zigzag silicene nanoribbons (ZSiNRs) and show spin-semiconducting features. Under external electric field or uniaxial compressive strain, the gapless spin-semiconductors are gained, which is significant in designing qubits for quantum computing in spintronics. The superlattice structures of silicene-based armchair nanoribbons (ASiSLs) is another example for 1D silicene nanostructures. The band structures of ASiSLs can be modulated by the size and strain of the superlattices. With the stain increased, the related energy gaps of ASiSLs will change, which are significantly different with that of the constituent nanoribbons. The results suggest potential applications in designing quantum wells.

Silicene, as the silicon analog of graphene, is successfully fabricated by epitaxially growing it on various substrates. Like free-standing graphene, free-standing silicene possesses a honeycomb structure and Dirac-cone-shaped energy band, resulting in many fascinating properties such as high carrier mobility, quantum spin Hall effect, quantum anomalous Hall effect, and quantum valley Hall effect. The existence of the honeycomb crystal structure and the Dirac cone of silicene is crucial for observation of its intrinsic properties. In this review, we systematically discuss the substrate effects on the atomic structure and electronic properties of silicene from a theoretical point of view, especially with emphasis on the changes of the Dirac cone.

In this topical review, we discuss the electronic structure of free-standing silicene by comparing results obtained using different theoretical methods. Silicene is a single atomic layer of silicon similar to graphene. The interest in silicene is the same as for graphene, in being two-dimensional and possessing a Dirac cone. One advantage of silicene is due to its compatibility with current silicon electronics. Both empirical and first-principles techniques have been used to study the electronic properties of silicene. We will provide a brief overview of the parameter space for first-principles calculations. However, since the theory is standard, no extensive discussion will be included. Instead, we will emphasize what empirical methods can provide to such investigations and the current state of these theories. Finally, we will review the properties computed using both types of theories for free-standing silicene, with emphasis on areas where we have contributed. Comparisons to graphene is provided throughout.

Free standing silicene is a two-dimensional silicon monolayer with a buckled honeycomb lattice and a Dirac band structure. Ever since its first successful synthesis in the laboratory, silicene has been considered as an option for post-silicon electronics, as an alternative to graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Despite its theoretical high carrier mobility, the zero band gap characteristic makes pure silicene impossible to use directly as a field effect transistor (FET) operating at room temperature. Here, we first review the theoretical approaches to open a band gap in silicene without diminishing its excellent electronic properties and the corresponding simulations of silicene transistors based on an opened band gap. An all-metallic silicene FET without an opened band gap is also introduced. The two chief obstacles for realization of a silicene transistor are silicene's strong interaction with a metal template and its instability in air. In the final part, we briefly describe a recent experimental advance in fabrication of a proof-of-concept silicene device with Dirac ambipolar charge transport resembling a graphene FET, fabricated via a growth-transfer technique.

Silicene, a newly isolated silicon allotrope with a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice structure, is predicted to have electronic properties similar to those of graphene, including the existence of signature Dirac fermions. Furthermore, the strong spin–orbit interaction of Si atoms potentially makes silicene an experimentally accessible 2D topological insulator. Since 2012, silicene films have been experimentally synthesized on Ag (111) and other substrates, motivating a burst of research on silicene. We and collaborators have employed STM investigations and first principles calculations to intensively study the structure and electronic properties of silicene films on Ag (111), including monolayer, bilayer, and multilayer silicenes, as well as hydrogenation of silicene.

Ag (111) is currently the most often used substrate for growing silicene films. Silicene forms a variety of different phases on the Ag (111) substrate. However, the structures of these phases are still not fully understood so far. In this brief review we summarize the growth condition and resulting silicene phases on Ag (111), and discuss the most plausible structural model and electronic property of individual phases. The existing debates on silicene on Ag (111) system are clarified as mush as possible.

Silicene, a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb structure similar to graphene, has been successfully fabricated on various substrates. This work will mainly review the syntheses and the corresponding properties of silicene and silicene–graphene layered structures on Ir (111) substrates. For silicene on Ir (111), the buckled (√3×√3) silicene/(√7×√7) Ir (111) configuration and its electronic structure are fully discussed. For silicene–graphene layered structures, silicene layer can be constructed underneath graphene layer by an intercalation method. These results indicate the possibility of integrating silicene with graphene and may link up with potential applications in nanoelectronics and related areas.