Silicene or the two-dimensional (2D) graphene-like silicon allotrope has lately emerged as a promising candidate for varied purposes in nanotechnology. Nevertheless, considerations on the silicene stability nonetheless persist up to now and should be addressed aiming on the fabrication of competing and sturdy silicene-based units. Right here, we current an all-around encapsulation methodology past the present state-of-the-art silicene configuration, specifically silicene sandwiched in between a capping layer (e.g., Al2O3) and the supporting substrate (e.g., Ag). On this framework, the insertion of 1 or two sacrificial 2D Sn layers permits the conclusion of various atomically skinny encapsulation schemes, preserving the pristine properties of silicene whereas decoupling it from the expansion template. On one hand, the epitaxy of a 2D Sn layer earlier than silicene permits for the elimination of the Ag substrate with no impact on silicene which in flip could be simply gated, for instance, with an oxide layer on its high face. Alternatively, a full 2D encapsulation scheme, the place high and backside faces of silicene are protected by 2D Sn layers, provides rise to an atomically skinny and cm2-scaled membrane stopping degradation of silicene for months. Each schemes thus represent an development for the silicene stability and encapsulation in ambient circumstances, paving the way in which to additional exploitation in versatile electronics and photonics.
