Focus on silicene and other 2D materials

Monolayer materials are one of the hottest topics in condensed matter physics since the experimental fabrications of graphene. Recently, new classes of monolayer materials have been manufactured experimentally and have attracted much attention. They are the group IV materials including silicene, germanene and stanene, the group V materials such as phosphorene and transition metal dichalcogenides. The group IV monolayers are predicted to be topological insulators, while transition metal dichalcogenides are useful for valleytronics. Monolayer materials may be used as a field-effect transistor and will be a key ingredient in future nanoelectronics.