Electronic, Optical and Mechanical Properties of Silicene Derivatives

Successful isolation of graphene from graphite opened a new era for material science and con- densed matter physics. Due to this remarkable achievement, there has been an immense interest to synthesize new two dimensional materials and to investigate their novel physical properties. Silicene, form of Si atoms arranged in a buckled honeycomb geometry, has been successfully synthesized and emerged as a promising material for nanoscale device applications. However, the major obstacle for using silicene in electronic applications is the lack of a band gap similar to the case of graphene. Therefore, tuning the electronic properties of silicene by using chemical functionalization methods such as hydrogenation, halogenation or oxidation has been a focus of interest in silicene research. In this paper, we review the recent studies on the structural, electronic, optical and mechanical proper- ties of silicene-derivative structures. Since these derivatives have various band gap energies, they are promising candidates for the next generation of electronic and optoelectronic device applications.