Silicene Applications in Nanotechnology: From Transistors to Bendable Membranes

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are today potential candidates for next generation ultra-scaled devices. After the boost provided by graphene, the 2D materials family is still quickly expanding and it is now clear that their properties may suit specific target applications but not all of them as originally expected by device engineers. Among them, a silicon-based 2D material, i.e., silicene, might represent the last frontier of the long shrinking journey of silicon throughout the semiconductor roadmap. Here, we review two applications based on the integration of silicene in field-effect transistors and bendable membranes, demonstrating that, with carefully engineered processes, silicene can be used in specific nanotechnology applications. We then briefly introduce other Xenes, the 2D materials family composed of single-element graphene-like lattices whose silicene is the frontrunner, and finally we provide an outlook on the future improvements to overcome the current roadblocks (large-scale growth and device standardization) towards a lab-to-fab transition towards Xenes integration into the silicon-based complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology.