Silicenevsgraphene

♤ But silicene is potentially even more exciting because it could be more easily compatible with existing silicon-based electronics, which means its benefits could be exploited quicker. Since carbon is right next to silicon on the periodic table, scientists began to wonder if a single layer of silicon atoms might be similarly revolutionary, and so the race to make some was on.

♤ The European research team reported that their silicene behaved just like graphene in a key respect: its electrons behave in a very particular way. They are capable of moving like massless particles, travelling through the lattice at the speed of light, on a range of energy levels that are continuous, rather than discrete. When plotted, this energy continuum is known as a Dirac cone.

♤ Where graphene has no band gap , the sample of silicene (if that is what it is) produced in Japan, does. This makes it immediately more suitable for use in developing nano-scale transistors, for example.