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2D materials beyond graphene and in particular 2D semiconductors have raised interest due to their unprecedented electronic properties, such as high carrier mobility or tunable bandgap. Blue phosphorene is an allotrope of black phosphorene that resembles graphene as it presents a honeycomb structure. However, it is known to have semiconductor character and the crucial point is to determine whether this hexagonal phase of phosphorene presents Dirac fermions as in graphene. Here, the first compelling experimental evidence of Dirac fermions in blue phosphorene layer grown on Cu(111) surface is presented. The results highlight the formation of a highly ordered blue phosphorene sheet with a clear Dirac cone at the high symmetry points of the Brillouin Zone. The charge carriers behave as massless relativistic particles. Therefore, all the expectations held for graphene, such as high‐speed electronic devices based on ballistic transport at room temperature, may also be applied to blue phosphorene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of blue phosphorene by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has recently come under the spotlight due to its potential applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, this synthesis remains a significant challenge. The surface reactivity between the P atoms and the Au atoms should be considered for the P/Au(111) system. In the MBE process, the temperature of the substrate is a key parameter for the growth of blue phosphorene. During the initial growth stage, irregularly shaped Phosphorus clusters grow on top of Au(111) surface at room temperature. When the substrate temperature is increased, these clusters transform into a phosphorene-like structure with a honeycomb lattice. An atom exchange reaction is observed between the P and first layer Au atoms under thermal activation at higher temperature, where the P atoms replace Au atoms to form a blue phosphorene structure within the top Au layer and at the step edges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Silicene–the silicon-based counterpart of graphene–has a two dimensional structure that is responsible for the variety of potentially useful chemical and physical properties. The existence of silicene has been achieved recently owing to experiments involving epitaxial growth of silicon as stripes on Ag(001), ribbons on Ag(110), and sheets on Ag(111). The nano-ribbons observed on Ag(110) were found–by both high definition experimental scanning tunneling microscopy images and density functional theory calculations–to consist of an arched honeycomb structure. Angle resolved photo-emission experiments on these silicene nano-ribbons on Ag(110), along the direction of the ribbons, showed a band structure which is analogous to the Dirac cones of graphene. Unlike silicon surfaces, which are highly reactive to oxygen, the silicene nano-ribbons were found to be resistant to oxygen reactivity. On the theoretical side, recent extensive efforts have been deployed to understand the properties of standalone silicene sheets and nano-ribbons using both tight-binding and density functional theory calculations. Unlike graphene it is demonstrated that silicene sheets are stable only if a small buckling (0.44 Å) is present. The electronic properties of silicene nano-ribbons and silicene sheets were found to resemble those of graphene. Although this is a fairly new avenue, the already obtained outcome from these important first steps in understanding silicene showed promising features that could give a new future to silicon in the electronics industry, thus opening a promising route toward wide-range applications. In this review, we plan to introduce silicene by presenting the available experimental and theoretical studies performed to date, and suggest future directions to be explored to make the synthesis of silicene a viable one. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]