TUE-CMS

Abstract:Graphene has emerged as one of the most fascinating areas of research in condensed matter and materials science. However, its heavier analogue, Silicene has generated interest only recently. It is now well - understood that for silicene, even though the electronic structure is similar to that for graphene (zero gap semiconductor), the structural aspects are very different. Silicene, unlike graphene has periodic puckering (buckling) in the six - membered aromatic rings leading to an interesting rippled structure. The effects of such ripples are manifold particularly in its local reactivity to halogens and hydrogens along the more ~sp3 atoms. The chemistry of silicene to silicane (hydrogenated silicene) is studied in details. Also, a microscopic understanding of the buckling distortion in silicene is provided based of detailed PJT (pseudo Jahn - Teller distortion) analysis between the symmetry breaking normal modes that correspond to the related KS orbitals.