Abstract Silicene is emerging as a two-dimensional material with very attractive electronic properties for a wide range of applications; it is a particularly promising material for nano-electronics in silicon-based technology. Over the last decade, the existence and stability of silicene has been the subject of much debate. Theoretical studies were the first to predict a puckered honeycomb structure with electronic properties resembling those of graphene. Though these studies were for free-standing silicene, experimental fabrication of silicene has been achieved so far only through epitaxial growth on crystalline surfaces. Indeed, it was only in 2010 that researchers presented the first experimental evidence of the formation of silicene on Ag(1 1 0) and Ag(1 1 1), which has launched silicene in a similar way to graphene. This very active field has naturally led to the recent growth of silicene on Ir(1 1 1), ZrB2(0 0 0 1) and Au(1 1 0) substrates. However, the electronic properties of epitaxially grown silicene on metal surfaces are influenced by the strong silicene–metal interactions. This has prompted experimental studies of the growth of multi-layer silicene, though the nature of its “silicene” structure remains questionable. Of course, like graphene, synthesizing free-standing silicene represents the ultimate challenge. A first step towards this has been reported recently through chemical exfoliation from calcium disilicide (CaSi2). In this review, we discuss the experimental and theoretical studies of silicene performed to date. Special attention is given to different experimental studies of the electronic properties of silicene on metal substrates. New avenues for the growth of silicene on other substrates with different chemical characteristics are presented along with foreseeable applications such as nano-devices and novel batteries.

中文翻译：

---

硅烯，一种很有前途的新型二维材料

摘要 硅烯是一种二维材料，具有非常有吸引力的电子特性，具有广泛的应用前景。在硅基技术中，它是一种特别有前途的纳米电子材料。在过去的十年中，硅烯的存在和稳定性一直是许多争论的主题。理论研究首次预测了具有类似于石墨烯的电子特性的褶皱蜂窝结构。尽管这些研究是针对自立式硅烯的，但迄今为止，硅烯的实验制造仅通过在晶体表面上的外延生长来实现。事实上，直到 2010 年，研究人员才首次展示了在 Ag(1 1 0) 和 Ag(1 1 1) 上形成硅烯的实验证据，它们以类似于石墨烯的方式发射了硅烯。这个非常活跃的领域自然导致最近硅烯在 Ir(1 1 1)、ZrB2(0 0 0 1) 和 Au(1 1 0) 衬底上的生长。然而，金属表面外延生长的硅烯的电子特性受到硅烯-金属强相互作用的影响。这促使对多层硅烯的生长进行实验研究，尽管其“硅烯”结构的性质仍然存在疑问。当然，像石墨烯一样，合成独立的硅烯代表了终极挑战。最近，通过从二硅化钙 (CaSi2) 化学剥离，已经报道了朝着这一目标迈出的第一步。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了迄今为止对硅烯进行的实验和理论研究。特别关注硅烯在金属基材上的电子特性的不同实验研究。