Silicene, a silicon counterpart of graphene, has been predicted to possess Dirac fermions. The effective spin–orbit interaction in silicene is quite significant compared to graphene; as a result, buckled silicene exhibits a finite band gap of a few meV at the Dirac point. This band gap can be further tailored by applying in plane strain, an external electric field, chemical functionalization and defects. This special feature allows silicene and its various derivatives as potential candidates for device applications. In this topical review, we would like to explore the transport features of the pristine silicene and its possible nano derivatives. As a part of it, Thermoelectric properties as well as several routes for thermoelectric enhancement in silicene are investigated. Besides, the recent progress in biosensing applications of silicene and its hetero-structures will be highlighted. We hope the results obtained from recent experimental and theoretical studies in silicene will setup a benchmark in diverse applications such as in spintronics, bio-sensing and opto-electronic devices.

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硅烯的传输特性及生物传感应用综述


硅烯是石墨烯的硅对应物，预计具有狄拉克费米子。与石墨烯相比，硅烯中的有效自旋轨道相互作用相当显着；因此，屈曲硅烯在狄拉克点表现出几兆电子伏的有限带隙。该带隙可以通过施加平面应变、外部电场、化学功能化和缺陷来进一步定制。这一特殊功能使得硅烯及其各种衍生物成为器件应用的潜在候选者。在这篇专题综述中，我们想探讨原始硅烯及其可能的纳米衍生物的传输特征。作为其中的一部分，研究了硅烯的热电性能以及热电增强的几种途径。此外，还将重点介绍硅烯及其异质结构在生物传感应用方面的最新进展。我们希望最近在硅烯方面的实验和理论研究获得的结果将为自旋电子学、生物传感和光电器件等多种应用树立基准。