Chemspy chemistry news and views

Silicene grown for (probably) the first time - A one atom-thick layer of silicon - a material dubbed silicene - has been created for perhaps the first time. If fully tamed, this material might match graphene's useful electrical properties. It could also be much easier to integrate with normal silicon-based circuits, meaning the development of super-miniaturised electronic devices could be accelerated. Reference: 1 B Lalmi et al, App. Phys. Lett., 2010, 97, 223109 (DOI: 10.1063/1.3524215)
2 P Vogt et al, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.155501