
Silicene discovered: Single-layer silicon that could beat graphene to market - ukdm
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/127887-silicene-discovered-single-layer-silicon-that-could-beat-graphene-to-market
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JoeAltmaier
"Silicene (pictured right) is more exciting than graphene because,
technically, it should be compatible with silicon-based electronics "

I think they mean "anecdotally" not "technically". Why would it be compatible?
Because they both start with "sili"?

~~~
rubidium
From the paper: "The synthesis of silicene opens up interesting perspectives
since silicene, with nontrivial electronic structure and a spin-orbit coupling
of 1.55 meV that is much larger than that of graphene, is predicted to exhibit
a quantum spin Hall effect in an accessible temperature regime. Moreover,
silicene can more easily be integrated into current Si-based electronics
compared to graphene."

In a nutshell, we know a heck of a lot more about using silicon for devices
than carbon. So interfacing this with current silicon devices and making
advances in understanding will likely occur more quickly.

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JoeAltmaier
But we know almost nothing about the properties of this rarely-seen variant,
silicene. Like graphene, it may exhibit wildly different responses than normal
silicon.

That paper simply repeats the same unsupported optimism as the puff piece -
"can more easily be integrate" - really? How? Again, because of the name?

Consider: if silicene ends up useful, it will be precisely because of how very
different it is than current silicon forms. Integration challenges will
revolve around manufacturing e.g. deposition and adhesion and a hundred other
factors, none of which resemble normal silicon properties.

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ph0rque
Having worked at Cree with silicon carbide, I wonder if a single layer of SiC
(silico-carbene?) is possible to synthesize... I'm sure it would have all
kinds of exciting implications for LEDs.

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ph0rque
Here's a possible way for a DIY materials science enthusiast to try
synthesizing it cheaply: synthesize graphene using a blu-ray player[0], spray
with liquid glass[1], then reduce to get rid of the O2 in SiO2. I'd try it,
but I have too many other projects going on... if anyone tries it, let us know
if it works out.

 _Edit:_ thinking about it more, it would be kind of hard for a DIY enthusiast
to reduce with e.g. the household kitchen oven. Still, a university lab could
try it rather easily.

[0] [http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/122763-graphene-
supercapa...](http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/122763-graphene-
supercapacitors-are-20-times-as-powerful-can-be-made-with-a-dvd-burner)

[1] <http://phys.org/news184310039.html>

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mchannon
Reducing SiO2 to Si requires extremely high temperatures (2000°) and sucks up
all nearby carbon (bye bye graphene).

Even most university labs will have trouble coming up with the temperatures
required, particularly considering you want to keep the oxygen from air out
(and the carbon monoxide product away from air-breathers).

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TheAmazingIdiot
Points in this non-article:

Graphene is awesome conductor. Graphene doesn't have a traditional transister
bandgap. Silicine has been found with microscopes. Silicine could be next big
thing.

Nothing is known about the materials science about this formation of silicon.

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jpdoctor
> _this non-article_

My favorite: "Graphene is the most conductive material in the known universe,"

Apparently, they're ignoring superconductors. So when you ignore the materials
more conductive than graphene, it becomes the most conductive material.

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Retric
At room temperature graphene beats all known super conductors.

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jpdoctor
> At room temperature

Important words missing from the article. BTW, bulk or sheet? It's been a
while, I only looked at sheet in the past.

