Surreal illustration of silicene morphing into a magnetic field

Silicon's Magnetic Makeover: How Scientists are Reinventing a Wonder Material

Lena Kashyap in Tech & Innovation June 2025 • 4 min read.

"Researchers are exploring magnetically intercalated multilayer silicene to unlock new possibilities for spintronics and quantum computing. Could this be the future of high-speed, energy-efficient devices?"

Graphene's rise has sparked a global race to explore other two-dimensional (2D) materials. Among these, silicene stands out – a sheet of silicon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, much like graphene. Silicene has the potential to transform nanotechnology due to its tunable electronic states. Imagine a material where you can adjust its properties with electric fields or chemical tweaks – that's silicene.

Silicene mirrors graphene with its massless Dirac fermions governing its behavior. Unlike graphene, however, silicene boasts a band gap that is easily modified. This adjustability is crucial for creating field-effect transistors and exploring exotic topological states like quantum anomalous Hall effect and quantum spin Hall effect. Its unique properties make it an ideal candidate for spintronic applications.

The key to unlocking silicene's potential lies in magnetism. Introducing magnetic states into silicene can be achieved through the adsorption or intercalation of metal atoms. Scientists are exploring ways to integrate magnetic properties into silicene, paving the way for new and diverse functionalities. The challenge, however, lies in synthesizing and stabilizing silicene in a way that preserves its desirable properties.

The Challenge: How Do You Make Silicene Magnetic?

Surreal illustration of silicene morphing into a magnetic field

Creating silicene and its derivatives is no easy feat. Unlike other 2D materials, silicene's high chemical reactivity, stemming from its buckled layers, poses significant hurdles. Free-standing silicene remains elusive, and while depositing silicon on metal substrates can form 2D structures, the strong interaction with the substrate often destroys the coveted Dirac states.

One promising approach involves intercalating silicene with active atoms to restore the Dirac cones. This idea has been experimentally validated with multilayer silicene intercalated with calcium (Ca), forming a polymorph of CaSi2. Scientists have also succeeded in synthesizing strontium (Sr)-intercalated multilayer silicene, a new polymorph of SrSi2, by epitaxially stabilizing it on silicon substrates. While CaSi2 and SrSi2 are nonmagnetic, the next frontier is to introduce inherent magnetic properties into the silicene lattice.

Adsorption of Metal Atoms: Integrating magnetic properties into silicene by adsorbing or intercalating metal atoms.
Epitaxial Stabilization: Stabilizing silicene on substrates like Si(111) and Si(001) to manage its structure.
Chemical Functionalization: Tuning silicene's band gap and properties by adding chemical modifications.
Manipulation with Electric Fields: Inducing topological states and controlling electronic behavior through electric fields.

Researchers have focused on europium (Eu) because of its strong magnetic properties and structural compatibility with strontium compounds. By growing EuSi2 on SrSi2/Si(111) templates, they successfully created multilayer silicene intercalated with magnetic Eu atoms. They explored the synthesis and properties of EuSi2 grown on SrSi2/Si(111), where the silicene layers are parallel to the surface. The next step was to investigate transport properties across magnetic silicene layers by synthesizing EuSi2 on Si(001) with a SrSi2 template layer, where electric fields act perpendicularly to the silicene surface, enhancing unique properties.

The Future of Silicene

The journey to harness silicene's potential is just beginning. The successful creation of magnetically intercalated multilayer silicene marks a significant step forward. The complex magnetic structure, dominated by antiferromagnetism, opens new avenues for exploring unconventional transport properties and manipulating electronic behavior. Further research, combining experimental and theoretical approaches, promises to unlock the full potential of silicene for spintronics, quantum computing, and beyond. Silicene may one day revolutionize the devices and technologies that shape our world.

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This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1051/epjconf/201818501010, Alternate LINK

Title: Magnetically Intercalated Multilayer Silicene

Subject: General Medicine

Journal: EPJ Web of Conferences

Publisher: EDP Sciences

Authors: Andrey M. Tokmachev, Dmitry V. Averyanov, Igor A. Karateev, Oleg E. Parfenov, Oleg A. Kondratev, Alexander N. Taldenkov, Vyacheslav G. Storchak

Published: 2018-01-01

Everything You Need To Know

What is Silicene and how does it relate to Graphene?

Silicene is a two-dimensional material composed of silicon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, analogous to graphene. Both share similarities in their structure and electronic properties. However, Silicene differs from Graphene in that it has a band gap that can be easily modified. This adjustability is critical for creating field-effect transistors and exploring exotic topological states like quantum anomalous Hall effect and quantum spin Hall effect, which are not as readily accessible in graphene.

How can scientists make Silicene magnetic?

Scientists are integrating magnetic properties into Silicene through methods like adsorption and intercalation of metal atoms. For example, they have successfully created magnetically intercalated multilayer silicene by using europium (Eu) atoms. The process involves growing EuSi2 on SrSi2/Si(111) templates. This process introduces magnetic states, opening avenues for spintronic applications.

What are the main challenges in working with Silicene?

One of the major hurdles in working with Silicene is its high chemical reactivity. Its buckled layers make it difficult to synthesize and stabilize. Free-standing Silicene is elusive, and strong interactions with substrates can destroy its desirable Dirac states. These issues lead to the use of various techniques like epitaxial stabilization and chemical functionalization to tune its properties. The synthesis of Silicene also requires the use of specific templates and careful control over the growth process.

What are the potential applications of magnetically modified Silicene, specifically in spintronics and quantum computing?

Magnetically modified Silicene has the potential to revolutionize spintronics and quantum computing. By introducing magnetism, scientists can explore unconventional transport properties and manipulate electronic behavior in new ways. In spintronics, this could lead to more efficient and faster data storage and processing devices. The ability to control the spin of electrons could enable new types of quantum bits (qubits), enhancing quantum computing capabilities.

What is the significance of using Europium (Eu) and Strontium (Sr) in the creation of magnetic Silicene?

Europium (Eu) is chosen for its strong magnetic properties and structural compatibility with strontium compounds. Using SrSi2 as a template, scientists can grow EuSi2, thereby integrating magnetic Eu atoms into the Silicene structure. The use of SrSi2 allows for the epitaxial stabilization of Silicene, a crucial step in preserving its desired electronic properties. The combination enables the investigation of transport properties and the manipulation of electronic behavior in a controlled manner, paving the way for advanced spintronic applications and novel quantum phenomena.