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Silicene discovered: Single-layer silicon that could beat graphene to market

44 points by ukdm 14y ago

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
TheAmazingIdiot 14y ago
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.
- jpdoctor 14y ago
  > 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.
  - Retric 14y ago
    At room temperature graphene beats all known super conductors.
    - jpdoctor 14y ago
      > 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.
JoeAltmaier 14y ago
"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"?
- Peroni 14y ago
  technically, it should be compatible Technically, my code should compile. It doesn't.
- mchannon 14y ago
  Because they're chemically identical, much in the way methane, kerosene, and wax are chemically identical to each other. The different substances have very dissimilar properties but they behave themselves next to each other without making chemical reactions. When you get down to microscale, little annoyances in the big world end up becoming dealbreakers, like different coefficients of thermal expansion, and potentials and bandgaps that show up between different elements and compounds, particularly as chemical reactions between them take place.
- rubidium 14y ago
  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.
  - JoeAltmaier 14y ago
    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.
ph0rque 14y ago
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.
- ph0rque 14y ago
  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-supercapacitors-are-20-times-as-powerful-can-be-made-with-a-dvd-burner http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/122763-graphene-supercapa... [1] http://phys.org/news184310039.html http://phys.org/news184310039.html
  - mchannon 14y ago
    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).

44 points by ukdm 14y ago

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

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.

jpdoctor 14y ago
> 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.
- Retric 14y ago
  At room temperature graphene beats all known super conductors.
  - jpdoctor 14y ago
    > 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.

JoeAltmaier 14y ago

"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"?

Peroni 14y ago
technically, it should be compatible Technically, my code should compile. It doesn't.
mchannon 14y ago
Because they're chemically identical, much in the way methane, kerosene, and wax are chemically identical to each other. The different substances have very dissimilar properties but they behave themselves next to each other without making chemical reactions. When you get down to microscale, little annoyances in the big world end up becoming dealbreakers, like different coefficients of thermal expansion, and potentials and bandgaps that show up between different elements and compounds, particularly as chemical reactions between them take place.
rubidium 14y ago
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.
- JoeAltmaier 14y ago
  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.

ph0rque 14y ago

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.

ph0rque 14y ago
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-supercapacitors-are-20-times-as-powerful-can-be-made-with-a-dvd-burner http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/122763-graphene-supercapa... [1] http://phys.org/news184310039.html http://phys.org/news184310039.html
- mchannon 14y ago
  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).